California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law on September 30 requiring hospitals, clinics and physician offices to take reasonable steps to ensure clinicians can still use their own judgment when AI is part of patient care. Assembly Bill 1979, by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, takes effect January 1, 2027.
The law also brings consumer health chatbots under California’s medical privacy rules. Earlier drafts flatly banned using AI to replace a clinician’s judgment. Lawmakers softened that language to reasonable steps, and the California Hospital Association dropped its opposition.
The same day, Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 2575, which would have protected nurses who override AI. That bill, by Assemblymember Liz Ortega, covered tools making predictions or recommendations about diagnosis, treatment or the timing of care. Newsom called its goal worthy but the measure not practical and enforceable as written.
Critics say the narrower law leaves a gap. “Today, a nurse who sees that the algorithm is wrong and acts to save her patient can still be disciplined or fired by her employer,” said Sandy Reding of the California Nurses Association.
Nurse.org’s 2026 survey found that just 22% of nurses trust AI tools to support safe patient care, and 40% say nurses have little input into how such tools are chosen.
