This is a research prototype. The data and analyses are preliminary and not yet validated — we'd welcome your .
Official name: California SB 384 (Preventing Algorithmic Price Fixing Act: Prohibition on Certain Price-Setting Algorithm Uses 2025)
Prohibits the use, sale, or licensing of price-setting algorithms processing nonpublic data if intended for competitors in the same market. Assigns enforcement to the Attorney General and others, allowing penalties per violation. Defines 'artificial intelligence' for regulatory purposes.
Analysis summaries, actor details, and coverage mappings were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
This is a binding California state statute with mandatory prohibitions, civil penalties up to $1,000 per violation, and enforcement by the Attorney General and other government authorities.
The document primarily addresses competitive dynamics (6.4) through its focus on preventing algorithmic collusion and price-fixing. It has minimal coverage of AI system security (2.2) through references to algorithm vulnerabilities, and touches on governance failure (6.5) by establishing regulatory frameworks. The document is narrowly focused on economic competition risks rather than broader AI safety or societal concerns.
The document governs AI use across multiple economic sectors where pricing algorithms could be deployed, with explicit coverage of real estate rental markets and implicit coverage of any sector involving competitors offering goods or services. The regulation is sector-agnostic in its prohibition of algorithmic price-fixing, applying broadly to trade, finance, professional services, and other commercial activities.
The document primarily covers the Deploy and Operate and Monitor stages, as it regulates the use and provision of price-setting algorithms in commercial markets and requires due diligence in their deployment. It does not address earlier stages like data collection, model training, or validation.
The document explicitly defines and covers AI systems through its definition of 'artificial intelligence' and 'price-setting algorithm.' It focuses on task-specific AI (price-setting algorithms) rather than general-purpose AI. No compute thresholds or references to frontier AI, foundation models, or open-weight models are mentioned.
State of California; California State Legislature
The document is a California state statute enacted by the people of California through their legislature, as indicated by the opening phrase and legislative structure.
Attorney General of California; District Attorney; City Attorney; County Counsel
The statute explicitly designates multiple government legal authorities at state and local levels as enforcers who may file civil actions for violations.
Attorney General of California; District Attorney; City Attorney; County Counsel
While not explicitly designated as monitors, the enforcement authorities (Attorney General, district attorneys, city attorneys, and county counsel) implicitly serve monitoring functions through their authority to investigate and bring civil actions for violations.
The statute targets persons who sell, license, provide, or use price-setting algorithms, which includes both developers/providers of such algorithms and deployers/users who implement them in competitive markets.
5 subdomains (1 Good, 4 Minimal)
