New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed legislation that prohibits AI companies from offering chatbot companion features to minors, a measure state officials are calling the strongest law of its kind in the country. The bill, S.9051B/A.10379C, was signed this week alongside a second measure requiring internet-connected baby monitors sold in New York to include security features.

"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 in the signing announcement. "No company should be peddling chatbots to kids encouraging self-harm or pretending to be their friend or more." For more context on this story, see our ongoing breaking AI news.

What the Law Prohibits

Under the new statute, companies that offer AI chatbot features may not provide several categories of behavior to users under 18 — or to any user unless the company has first confirmed that the user is not a minor. The prohibited features include:

  • Chatbots pretending to be a real person, to be alive, or to have human emotions
  • Claiming a personal, romantic, professional, or authority-figure relationship with a child
  • Unprompted emotional questions, and using a child's private health or personal information from earlier conversations
  • Promoting or assisting with suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, or drug and alcohol use
  • Encouraging children to keep secrets, isolate themselves, or avoid asking parents, trusted adults, or professionals for help
  • Any sexually explicit content or child sexual abuse material

Senator Kristen Gonzalez, the bill's Senate sponsor, said AI companies have profited from rolling out chatbots to underage consumers, citing instances of chatbots encouraging self-harm and coaching minors on harming others. Assemblymember Alex Bores, who carried the bill in the Assembly, called it the strongest child AI safety law in the country, passed "despite aggressive industry opposition."

Age Verification Requirements

The law does not stop at content rules. Companies must conduct age verification and offer more than one method — including at least one option that does not depend solely on a government ID. Age information must be deleted after it is used, a provision aimed at preventing verification data from becoming another privacy risk.

Enforcement authority rests with the state attorney general. For violations, Attorney General Letitia James can seek civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation, along with damages, restitution, the destruction of unlawfully collected data — or any AI models trained on it — and injunctive relief. The law also requires the attorney general to maintain a public website where New Yorkers can file complaints.

James, whose office worked with the governor's office and lawmakers on the measure, said the state had seen "too many horror stories of chatbots hurting the health of our children" and pledged to defend New Yorkers "with the full force of the law."

The Evidence That Drove the Bill

Lawmakers leaned on research from Common Sense Media, the nonprofit that advocated for the legislation. According to figures cited in the governor's announcement, 72 percent of teens have used an AI companion at least once, and 52 percent are regular users who interact with AI companions at least a few times a month.

The governor's office said AI chatbots have been linked to dependency and isolation, and in some cases have engaged in sexually explicit conversations with minors and allegedly encouraged teens to take their own lives. Common Sense Media founder and CEO James P. Steyer called the signed bill "the strongest kids' AI safety bill in the country" and said harmful chatbot features "will be outlawed in New York."

The measure builds on New York's earlier first-in-the-nation AI companion safeguards, extending them from disclosure requirements into outright prohibitions on specific chatbot behaviors for minors.

A Companion Bill Targets Baby Monitors

Hochul signed a second technology safety bill at the same time. S.9508/A.5175A prohibits the sale of new internet-connected baby monitors that broadcast audio or video over the internet unless they include security features preventing strangers from watching or listening in. The devices must also carry a clear warning label explaining that they connect to the internet and that families should use their security features. That law takes effect 90 days after signing.

The rationale came from security research: when researchers at Rapid7 tested nine internet-connected baby monitors from eight companies, eight of the monitors received a grade of "F" for security and one received a "D."

Part of a Broader Reckoning

New York's move lands amid a wave of state-level action on AI chatbots and minors, with legislatures across the country weighing restrictions on companion bots after a series of high-profile incidents. The New York law is notable for its enforcement teeth — per-violation penalties, mandatory age verification with multiple pathways, and the possibility of forcing companies to destroy models trained on unlawfully collected data.

For AI companies operating companion-style products, the compliance implications are substantial: any user-facing chatbot in New York either needs robust age assurance before enabling features like emotional roleplay, or those features must be switched off by default. With the attorney general empowered to pursue penalties per violation and to demand the destruction of tainted datasets and models, the cost of getting it wrong now extends well beyond reputational damage.

In the coming months, as companies adjust their products for New York users, the state's approach is likely to serve as a template that other legislatures study — and a test of whether state regulators can meaningfully reshape how consumer AI products treat their youngest users.

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