Chatbot Laws · verified Oct. 21, 2026
Updated CHAT Act. Sorts chatbots into three tiers (educational, companion, mental-health) with stricter duties as risk rises: age assurance and parental controls, not-human disclosures, crisis protocols, limits on memory and ads, and supervision for therapeutic bots used by minors.
Who it would cover
Covered entities offering companion AI chatbots, which include educational/tutoring bots and bots marketed for companionship or mental-health support. Simple scripted bots and narrow-purpose bots (customer service, productivity, certain voice assistants and game bots) are excluded.
What it would require
| AI disclosure | Minor users must be told in plain language that they are not talking to a human.When: At the start of each interaction, repeated at least every 3 hours (Tier I) or every 60 minutes (Tiers II and III)§ 4(b); §§ 5(1), 6(1)(A), 7(2)(A) |
|---|---|
| Minors | Entities must take reasonable measures to prevent chatbots from encouraging self-harm or violence, sexual communication with minors, claiming to be human or a licensed professional, and fostering emotional dependency or romance. Tier II bots may not keep memory of minors' prior interactions; Tier III use by minors requires supervision by a licensed professional. Break nudges at least every 90 minutes (Tier II) or 60 minutes (Tier III).§§ 3, 5(2), 6(1)(B), 6(4), 7(1) |
| Age checks | Account required; age and date of birth collected at set-up; for minors, parent contact information and child-protective settings before the account is created.§ 4(a) |
| Crisis protocol | Tier II and III bots must publish and follow protocols to detect suicidal ideation or self-harm and refer minors to the 988 Lifeline; they may not provide crisis counseling to minors; parents must be notified without unreasonable delay.§§ 6(2)-(3), 7(2)(C)-(D) |
| Reporting | FTC must report annually on compliance with the Tier II and III duties, starting one year after the effective date; NIST must study harms.§§ 8, 11 |
| Therapy and licensed titles | Tier III bots may not give minors diagnoses or treatment decisions or act as a standalone mental-health provider.§ 7(3) |
| Data limits | No targeted ads to minors based on conversation content, inferred emotion or profiling; no sale or sharing of minors' data without verifiable parental consent; minors can delete conversation history.§ 9(a), 9(c) |
Enforcement
| Enforced by | Federal Trade Commission and State attorneys general (parens patriae)§ 10 |
|---|---|
| Private lawsuits | No |
| Penalties | Treated as a violation of an FTC rule on unfair or deceptive practices (FTC Act § 18(a)(1)(B)); FTC Act remedies apply. No separate dollar amount. |
Related laws
- Pending
- Pending
Sources
- All actions, Congress.gov Supports: Latest action and dates.
- Cosponsors, Congress.gov Supports: Sponsor and cosponsor count.
- Bill text, Congress.gov Supports: Introduced text, §§ 2-13.
- Bill status data (Library of Congress feed, GPO govinfo) Supports: Introduction, referral, cosponsor (Sen. Kim).
- S. 5154 as introduced (text) Supports: Sections 2-13.
- Sen. Husted press release, July 29, 2026 Supports: Description of the bill (lead; sponsor's own site).