SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 30 (Our California Times) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed laws requiring large businesses to make a good-faith effort to connect customers seeking a human representative within 15 minutes or schedule an appointment, and barring loud ads on podcasts and music streams.
The customer-service law also requires businesses to disclose when a representative is a chatbot rather than a person. Certain large businesses must post customer-service contact information on their websites, according to the governor’s office.
The audio-advertising law bars commercials on podcasts and music-streaming services from being louder than the content they accompany. Newsom’s office announced both signings Sept. 28.
Newsom signed a separate law in 2025 restricting the volume of commercials on video-streaming services. That measure, SB 576, was authored by Sen. Thomas Umberg, a Democrat from Santa Ana, according to the governor’s office.
