Press Release
Governor Signs Landmark Legislation to Ban Algorithmic Price Fixing
10. 07. 2025
Statement from Teri Olle, Director of Economic Security California Action, on Gov. Newsom Signing AB 325
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Newsom today signed AB 325 (Aguiar-Curry), groundbreaking legislation that prohibits corporations from using algorithms and digital tools to artificially raise prices on essentials like housing and groceries.
AB 325 represents a critical step in addressing California’s affordability crisis by cracking down on tech-enabled price manipulation. Recent prominent users of such pricing algorithms include the company RealPage, which has been accused of utilizing software that enabled landlords to collude in price-fixing schemes that drove rents up in several U.S. cities—including increases of up to 20% in the San Francisco Bay Area. This legislation makes it illegal for companies to use software to engage in the same price-fixing schemes that would be criminal if conducted in a backroom handshake deal, ensuring that digital tools cannot be used to circumvent longstanding antitrust protections.
AB 325 modernizes commonsense antitrust protections for the digital and AI era, ensuring California families are safeguarded against new forms of corporate collusion.
Teri Olle, Director of Economic Security California Action (ESCAA), a co-sponsor of the bill, issued the following statement:
“Californians are fed up with corporations using secret algorithms to jack up prices on everything from rent to groceries, from hotel rooms to french fries. Whether it’s RealPage’s software allegedly costing renters an additional $3.8 billion in 2023 alone, or potato companies and meatpackers using shared data to coordinate price increases, these digital price collusion schemes are making life unaffordable for working families across our state.
The principle driving AB 325 is simple: if it’s illegal in a back room, it’s illegal on a laptop. This new law will directly confront the tech-powered price crisis by holding accountable both the developers who create price-fixing algorithms and the companies that knowingly use them. It’s about restoring real competition to our markets and ensuring technology delivers prosperity for all, rather than padding corporate executives’ pockets.
Californians have had enough. From families seeing their rents skyrocket, to parents paying more at the checkout line, people are tired of being squeezed so billionaire CEOs can get richer. AB 325 will bring relief by modernizing our antitrust laws for the digital age and ensuring the Attorney General has the tools to protect consumers from these predatory practices.”