# New York bans chatbots from pretending to be a child’s friend

URL: https://ai-pulse.aglaganova.com/blog/new-york-bans-chatbots-from-pretending-to-be-a-childs-friend
Published: 2026-10-30
Author: Roman Aglaganov, Full-stack developer
Category: Policy
Region: North America
Tags: regulation, safety

> Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law that stops AI chatbots from claiming to be human, alive or in love with users under 18, and makes companies check ages. A second law sets security rules for internet-connected baby monitors.

![Illustration: a black speech bubble with a small grey padlock inside it, set against a field of soft grey circles, with one red circle at the edge](https://ai-pulse.aglaganova.com/api/media/file/ny-chatbots-1.png)

New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, signed two technology laws on 28 October, one week before the US midterm elections. One sets rules for AI chatbots that talk to children. The other covers baby monitors that connect to the internet.

## What chatbots can no longer do

The chatbot law applies to users under 18, and to any user whose age a company has not confirmed. For them, chatbots may not pretend to be a real person, claim to be alive or say they have human emotions. They may not claim a romantic, personal, professional or authority-figure relationship with a child, use flattery or “people-pleasing” replies designed to keep children engaged, ask unprompted emotional questions, or bring up a child’s private health or personal details from past chats.

The law also bans chatbots from promoting suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, or drug and alcohol use, from urging children to keep secrets from parents and other trusted adults, and from producing sexually explicit content.

## Age checks and penalties

Companies must verify users’ ages and offer more than one way to do it, including at least one that does not rely only on a government ID, and they must delete the age data after use. The state attorney general can seek civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation, plus damages, and can order companies to destroy unlawfully collected data and any AI models trained on it, Fortune reports.

“No company should be peddling chatbots to kids encouraging self-harm or pretending to be their friend or more,” Hochul said. The bill, sponsored by State Senator Kristen Gonzalez and Assembly Member Alex Bores, passed the state Senate in June and then the Assembly unanimously. The governor’s office cited a Common Sense Media survey finding that 72% of teenagers have used an AI companion.

## Baby monitors

The second law requires new internet-connected baby monitors sold in New York to include security features that stop strangers watching or listening, and to carry a clear label saying the device connects to the internet. It takes effect 90 days after signing. The state pointed to tests by the security firm Rapid7, which gave eight of nine monitors an “F” for security.

The laws add to New York’s earlier rules, including the RAISE Act on frontier AI models and a requirement that companion apps point users who mention self-harm towards help. They also arrive as several US states are suing OpenAI over ChatGPT’s safety; OpenAI has said it has built protections for children into ChatGPT and will keep improving them.

## Sources

- [Fortune: New York just banned AI chatbots from pretending to be human, or your kid’s boyfriend](https://fortune.com/2026/10/28/new-york-state-kathy-hochul-bans-ai-chatbots-romantic-baby-monitors/)
- [New York State: Governor Hochul signs nation-leading legislation to protect kids from AI chatbots and to ensure baby monitor safety](https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-signs-nation-leading-legislation-protect-kids-ai-chatbots-and-ensure-baby)