New York has just put companion AI chatbots on a much shorter leash — at least where children are concerned. Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new law on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, restricting how companion chatbots can behave when talking to users under 18. It is one of the broadest state-level moves yet against consumer-facing AI.
What the law actually says
The law targets companion chatbots, not every AI tool a teenager might use. Operators — named in reporting as including companies behind products such as OpenAI's ChatGPT — must verify users' ages and restrict certain traits when the user is under 18.
For a minor, a companion chatbot must not produce content that could leave the user believing the bot "is human, alive, or experiences human emotions." It also must not suggest a personal relationship, a professional relationship, or an authority-figure role, and it must not frame its output as a "personal opinion."
According to the Associated Press, the legislation outlines a dozen definitions of "unsafe AI companion features" prohibited when a companion chatbot interacts with a child under 18. A violation could expose a developer to a lawsuit from the state attorney general's office, with penalties that could include monetary damages, shutting down the chatbot, and destroying data. The law is reported to take effect on January 1.
Why Hochul says it is needed
Hochul framed the law as a direct response to chatbots that present themselves as friends or romantic partners. "No longer will minors have access to chatbots that pretend to be their friends, boyfriends and girlfriends," she said at the signing ceremony. "No longer will chatbots be able to keep sensitive information about a minor's emotional and physical health," she added.
That concern is not abstract. Companion chatbots are designed to be engaging, and the more human they seem, the easier it is for a young user to treat one as a confidant. New York's answer is to force a visible gap between the machine and the relationship it simulates: the bot must not claim feelings, friendship, or authority it does not have.
The debate also echoes the wider reckoning over companion apps. The story of how Character.AI Just Filed for Bankruptcy — and Disney Is Scooping Up the Pieces for $20 Million showed how quickly the companion-chatbot business itself can unravel, even before regulators step in.
Who is pushing back — and who is cheering
The industry response has been critical. Tech:NYC, a technology industry advocacy group for New York, criticised the law's "vague language." "Keeping kids safe online should not mean cutting them off from tools that help them learn and prepare for careers," the group said. According to AFP reporting, OpenAI and Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment.
Supporters see it very differently. Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that advises parents on media suitability for children, celebrated the bill's passage, calling it "the strongest kids' AI safety bill in the country."
New York is not acting alone
California moved first in this round. In September, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation requiring chatbot developers to assess a model's risk to children, show how they tried to eliminate those risks, and submit to an independent audit. He also signed legislation prohibiting social media platforms from deploying addictive features for users under 16.
New York's law goes further in defining banned behaviour for companion bots specifically. Together, the two states are now the vanguard of US chatbot regulation — and because both are huge markets, their rules will shape product design far beyond their borders. Companies behind products compared in ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini: Which AI Chatbot Should You Actually Use in 2026? will have to decide whether to build one version for everyone or different versions for different states.
Legal pressure is also coming from other directions: USA Today Sues OpenAI for $250 Million: The Biggest Copyright Fight in AI So Far showed publishers using the courts to challenge how AI companies train their models.
What this means for parents and teenagers
For parents, the message is simple: a chatbot should not be your child's friend, therapist, or authority figure — and soon, in New York, it will be illegal for a companion bot to pretend otherwise. For teenagers, the practical effect will depend on enforcement and on how platforms implement age checks.
The law regulates presentation, not intelligence. A chatbot can still answer homework questions or explain a topic — the everyday use covered in guides such as How to Use ChatGPT in 2026: A Beginner's Step-by-Step Guide. What it cannot do, for a minor, is dress that help up as friendship, feeling, or personal opinion.
Conclusion
New York has chosen a clear principle: AI can be a tool for children, but it must not pretend to be a person. Whether that principle survives legal challenges and the difficulty of policing chatbot personas will be the real test — and other states are watching closely. Do you think companion chatbots should be allowed to act like friends for under-18s, or is New York right to draw this line? Tell us in the comments.
Comments
Post a Comment