California legal term
Artificial intelligence in California Criminal Law
Current through 2026 California legislative session
In California criminal law, “Artificial intelligence” is a term defined by statute rather than by its everyday meaning. Its statutory definition — quoted verbatim below — controls how the term is applied throughout the California criminal code.
What does “Artificial intelligence” mean in California criminal law?
“Artificial intelligence” means an engineered or machine-based system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments. (Cal. Penal Code § 311)
Statutes defining or using this term
Related terms in the same statutes
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.