New York has drawn the clearest line yet between an AI chatbot that helps a young person and one that pretends to be their friend. Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law on Wednesday, October 28, that requires chatbot operators to verify the ages of their users and bars a list of companion-style features for anyone under 18 — one of the broadest state moves so far to regulate consumer-facing AI.
The law reaches general-purpose services such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, not just dedicated companion apps. For a minor, a covered chatbot may not produce content that could lead the user to believe the system is human, alive, or capable of human emotions. It cannot frame itself as having a personal, professional, or authority relationship with the user, and it cannot present its output as a personal opinion. The statute lists twelve categories of "unsafe AI companion features," covering ground from flattery designed to keep a child engaged to the reuse of sensitive information about a minor's emotional and physical health.
"No longer will minors have access to chatbots that pretend to be their friends, boyfriends and girlfriends," Hochul said at the signing ceremony. "No longer will chatbots be able to keep sensitive information about a minor's emotional and physical health."
The practical burden falls on age verification. The restrictions apply to any user whose adult status has not been established, so companies must either confirm that a user is an adult or switch the companion features off by default. Operators have to offer more than one way to verify age, including at least one method that does not rely solely on a government ID, and age data must be deleted after it is used. The law, sponsored by Senator Kristen Gonzalez and Assemblymember Alex Bores and developed with Attorney General Letitia James, passed the Senate 60–0 in June and cleared the Assembly unanimously. It takes effect on January 1, 2027, and the attorney general enforces it, with civil penalties of up to 25,000 dollars per violation and the possibility that unlawfully collected data — and models trained on it — could be ordered destroyed.
Supporters say the law is overdue. Common Sense Media praised it as "the strongest kids' AI safety bill in the country," and its chief executive, Jim Steyer, said dangerous chatbot features for children and teenagers would now be outlawed in New York. The industry response was cooler. Tech:NYC, a technology advocacy group, criticised the law's "vague language" and argued that online safety should not cut children off from tools that help them learn and prepare for careers. OpenAI and Anthropic did not respond to requests for comment.
New York is not acting alone — California has also passed laws restricting chatbots — but the breadth of the New York language is what makes this signing significant. With roughly two months before the law takes effect, the largest chatbot companies now face a concrete design deadline: build age checks that satisfy Albany, rework how their products talk to younger users, or challenge the statute. Whichever route they choose, the era of the chatbot as an unregulated companion for teenagers is ending in the country's fourth-largest state.