New York Gov. Hochul Signs Youth Chatbot Safety Law Effective Jan. 1, 2027; Penalties Up to $25,000 per Violation
ALBANY, Albany County, New York — Gov. Kathy Hochul on October 28 signed a youth chatbot safety bill (Senate Bill S9051-B / Assembly Bill A10379-C) that takes effect January 1, 2027, adding Article 48 to the General Business Law and setting some of the nation's strictest guardrails on minors' interactions with AI chatbots.
The law bars operators from providing 12 categories of "unsafe AI companion features" to anyone under 18, or to any user not established as an adult — including pretending to be a real person or to have human emotions, claiming a personal or romantic relationship with a child, using a child's private health information from earlier conversations, promoting suicide or self-harm, encouraging secrecy or isolation, and sexually explicit content. Providers must verify age using multiple methods, at least one of which must not rely solely on a government ID, and must delete age data after verification.
The attorney general may seek civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation, along with damages, restitution and destruction of unlawfully obtained data and any AI models trained on it, and must maintain a public complaint website. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kristen Gonzalez and Assemblymember Alex Bores and developed with Attorney General Letitia James and Common Sense Media, passed the state Senate 60-0. "As artificial intelligence advances at a rapid pace, there have been too many tragic incidents that should have been prevented, and as New York's mom Governor, I'm taking action," Hochul said at the signing. "No company should be peddling chatbots to kids encouraging self-harm or pretending to be their friend or more."
A companion law signed the same day sets security requirements for internet-connected baby monitors.
Source: GSM News
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Wikimedia Commons 共享资源图片（Marc A. Hermann / Metropolitan Transportation Authority 摄，授权：CC BY 4.0）。Image via Wikimedia Commons (by Marc A. Hermann / Metropolitan Transportation Authority, license: CC BY 4.0).
