California moves to bar AI emotion-reading tools at work

“Workplace surveillance tool” is equally expansive: any system, application, or device that collects employee data, activities, communications, biometrics, or behaviors by means other than direct observation. Video, audio, geolocation, electromagnetic tracking, and continuous time-tracking tools all fall within the definition. 

The bill does not, however, ban all workplace monitoring. It targets AI-driven tools used for two specific purposes – collecting neural data, meaning information generated by measuring the activity of an employee’s nervous system, or reading and predicting emotional states. Employers can still deploy AI surveillance for safety, and non-AI monitoring stays untouched. 

One narrow exemption applies. Employers operating under federal statutes, regulations, or binding federal contracts tied to aircraft development, national security, military, space, or defense work are carved out – but only for those operations, and only where surveillance is “reasonably necessary” to comply. 

On enforcement, the Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors can investigate violations and bring civil actions. Penalties run up to $500 per violation. Courts can also award injunctive relief, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney’s fees. The bill does not preempt local ordinances that offer equal or greater protection to workers. 

The legislature declared the bill a matter of statewide concern, which means it applies to all cities, including charter cities that might otherwise claim local control.