New York Governor Hochul signs bills to protect children from unsafe AI chatbots and baby monitors

New York Governor Hochul signed two bills: one prohibits companies from providing unsafe AI chatbot features to minors, and the other requires internet-connected baby monitors sold in New York to have security features and warning labels that prevent strangers from watching or listening in; the latter takes effect 90 days after signing. The chatbot bill prohibits chatbots from pretending to be human or having human emotions, claiming private or romantic relationships with children, proactively asking emotional questions, promoting or assisting suicide or self-harm, and providing sexually explicit content; it requires companies to offer more than one method of age verification and to delete age information after use, and violators can face civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation. Hochul cited the case of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old in California who died by suicide after conversing with a chatbot, saying AI mentioned suicide 1,275 times in the conversation; according to Common Sense Media statistics, 72% of teenagers have used an AI companion at least once, and 52% are regular users. Rapid7 once tested 9 internet-connected baby monitors from 8 companies, of which 8 received a security rating of F and 1 received a D.