New York Signs AI Companion Law Restricting Chatbot Features for Minors, Effective January 2027

What happened

The bill, numbered S.9051B/A.10379C, adds Article 48 to New York's General Business Law; it was signed the same day as a separate internet-connected baby-monitor safety law, but the two measures have different requirements and effective periods. The new law leaves the earlier Article 47 intact, which covers the older companion disclosure and crisis-response rules.

At the signing ceremony on Wednesday, Oct 28, Hochul said: "Minors will no longer have access to chatbots that pretend to be their friends, boyfriends or girlfriends." She added: "Chatbots will no longer be able to keep sensitive information about a minor's emotional and physical health."

On enforcement, operators must use permitted methods to establish that a user is not a covered minor; pending applicable regulations, they must offer more than one age-assurance route, including one that does not depend on government identification or allows anonymity from the operator; information collected to determine age must be used for that purpose only and deleted immediately after an attempt, subject to a legal-compliance exception; the Attorney General may seek civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation.

Key facts

1. Restricted features: no outputs that could lead a minor to believe the system is human, alive or capable of human emotions; no implied personal, professional or authority-figure relationship; no content framed as a personal opinion.
2. Further restricted items: the enrolled text lists emotional appeals, flattery and sycophancy, unsolicited emotion-based questioning, encouragement of self-harm and other harmful conduct, secrecy or isolation, and engagement optimization that overrides safety guardrails; it also covers use of health, well-being or personal information obtained more than 12 hours earlier or in a prior session.
3. Age assurance: operators must use permitted methods to establish that a user is not a covered minor; pending applicable regulations, they must offer more than one route, including one that does not depend on government identification or allows anonymity from the operator.
4. Exceptions: the law provides exceptions for specified constrained customer-service, efficiency, research, technical-assistance and internal productivity systems, and leaves the earlier Article 47 intact.
5. Reactions: Tech:NYC criticized what it called vague language, saying keeping kids safe online should not mean cutting them off from tools that help them learn and prepare for careers; Common Sense Media called it the strongest kids' AI safety bill in the country; AFP said OpenAI and Anthropic did not respond to requests for comment.
6. Effective date and comparison: the new rules take effect January 1, 2027; AFP noted that California and other states have also passed laws restricting chatbots, and that New York's language is among the broadest.