Newsom Signs California COMPETE Act, Expanding Cartwright Act
California's new COMPETE Act (AB 1776), signed September 30, 2026, significantly expands the state's Cartwright Act, raising antitrust exposure for companies doing business in the country's largest state economy.
On September 30, 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1776, the COMPETE Act, significantly expanding the Cartwright Act. California now operates one of the broadest antitrust statutes in the country, and the change reaches far beyond in-state counsel: it affects the conduct, litigation posture, and settlement calculus of any company with sales, employees, or operations in California.
Why counsel should care now: expanded state liability interacts with the federal antitrust framework and overlapping private-enforcement regimes, and a stricter state standard can change how defense costs, injunctions, and class exposure are priced in disputes touching the state. For major-firm clients, the question is whether existing pricing, contracting, or distribution practices now carry added state-law risk, and whether pending matters should be reassessed.
Next steps: watch for implementing guidance, the first private enforcement actions, and early challenges testing the amended statute. Clients with material California volume should commission a conduct-level review, and deal teams should factor the expanded standard into diligence, indemnities, and risk allocation. Reported material is limited to the signing; provisions and effective dates should be verified against the enacted text.