Secretary Of State Finds Business Chatbots And Online LLC-1 Filings

The California Secretary of State's office yesterday announced two improvements to its business website.  The first is "Eureka" which is intended to allow the public to navigate the Secretary of State's website using "chatbot" technology.  Essentially, this means typing in a question or part of a question.  For example, you might type in "How can I get a copy of a filed document?"  If you can't visualize how this operates, the Secretary of State has released this video.  Eureka was developed in association with Microsoft.  To find Eureka, look for the cartoon bear in the lower right of the Secretary of State's business program page. 

The second innovation allows for the completion and filing of articles of organization on-line.  A convenient feature of this service is that it will check name availability as you fill out the form online.  Again, the Secretary of State has produced a video that demonstrates how this works.

The Secretary has named its chatbot function "Eureka", which is, of course, California's official state motto.  Gov't Code § 420.5.  The word is a transliteration of the first person, singular, perfect, indicative, active form of the Greek word εὑρίσκω, meaning I have found it.