As amended on 4/27/2026: - Requires companion chatbot operators to verify the age of users. - Requires operators to perform comprehensive risk assessments to identify child safety risks. - Requires operators to implement a documented crisis response protocol to reduce the risk that a companion chatbot generates content promoting suicidal ideation, suicide, or self-harm to a child user. - Requires safeguards for child users that include usage reminders and disclosures, age-appropriate risk prompts, and other protective design features. - Requires parent-controlled default settings that limit chatbot use by children, including ephemeral conversations by default, restricted notification hours, and caps of one hour per session and two hours per day. - Requires a child-friendly notice mechanism to that the user is interacting with AI, with periodic reminders during extended use. - Requires measures that prevent the chatbot from encouraging self-harm, suicidal ideation, consumption of narcotics or alcohol, disordered eating, or harm to others, offering mental health treatment, engaging in sexual or abusive content, manipulating or discouraging healthy behavior, misrepresenting themselves as human, or promoting spending, advertising, or overly sycophantic interactions with child users. - Requires offering parental controls. - Prohibits operators from targeting ads to children, misusing children’s personal data, and using manipulative design that interferes with user or parental choice or access to safety and privacy controls. - The original bill made nonsubstantive changes, but the bill was amended on 3/19/2026 to include substantive provisions. The bill amended penalties for chatbots until the 3/25/2026 amendment replaced those provisions with chatbot regulation provisions. - The 4/27/2026 amendment clarifies "covered harm", deletes definition of "personalize", and modifies age verification procedures.
| Date | Chamber | Action |
|---|---|---|
May 13, 2026 | A | Hearing Scheduled - Appropriations |
Apr 28, 2026 | — | Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
Apr 27, 2026 | — | Read second time and amended. |
Apr 23, 2026 | — | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 2.) (April 21). |
Apr 21, 2026 | A | Hearing Scheduled - Privacy and Consumer Protection |
Apr 16, 2026 | A | Hearing Scheduled - Privacy and Consumer Protection |
Apr 14, 2026 | — | Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P. |
Apr 13, 2026 | — | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. Read second time and amended. |
| Last Action | Apr 28, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Year | 2025 |
| Bill Type | Bill |
| Created | Mar 21, 2026 |
| Updated | May 6, 2026 |