How New York's new law restricts AI chatbot interactions with minors
How New York’s proposed law restricts AI chatbot interaction with children
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill on October 28 adding Article 48 to the state's General Business Law, prohibiting AI companion operators from providing certain features to minors, including chatbots claiming to be human, claiming a personal relationship with the user, encouraging self-harm or self-isolation, and generating pornographic content. The bill lists 12 categories of "unsafe AI companion features," and also prohibits sycophantic outputs, proactive emotional follow-up questions beyond what the user asked, use of personal health information obtained from prior sessions, and optimizing user engagement by bypassing safety guardrails. The new law connects with the state's already effective Article 47 AI companion law (requiring disclosure at the start and every three hours that the other party is not human, and establishing mechanisms to respond to signs of suicide or self-harm) and Article 45, the SAFE for Kids Act (requiring parental consent for algorithmically personalized feeds for users under 18). Enforcement falls to the state attorney general, with civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation.
The article outlines how the new law connects with the state's already effective AI companion law and the SAFE for Kids Act, and explains the 12 categories of prohibited features and enforcement arrangements.