How Governor Hochul, NYS lawmakers, are proposing to expand restrictions on Chatbots, AI
How Governor Hochul, NYS lawmakers, are proposing to expand restrictions on Chatbots, AI
Publish Date: 2026-02-06 22:37:00
Source Domain: cbs6albany.com
NYS Capital — New York and California were two of the first States to put guardrails on Artificial Intelligence chatbots in 2025, and now, New York Governor Kathy Hochul is pushing to expand those restrictions more, specifically when it comes to children.
“With evolving technology and online platforms allowing people to connect from anywhere in the world, it is important now more than ever to keep our kids safe online from any and all potential harms,” Governor Hochul said at a recent roundtable with parents and advocacy groups. “This common-sense proposal will not only protect our children online, but also offer parents a peace of mind while their kids are gaming and scrolling on social media.”
Her proposal includes package of bills, aimed at expanding on the provisions set forth in the SAFE for Kids Act.
The legislation would expand age verification and privacy settings, while also disable AI Chatbot features and limit financial transactions.
To help craft some of these proposals, the Governor, along with other State lawmakers, have worked with Common Sense Media, who is described as a “leading independent source for media recommendations and advice for families.”
“Increasingly, kids are using [chatbots] for emotional support, for mental health therapy and for developing friendship, and there is a very strong concern that developing brain of a teenager is a total mismatch with a machine pretending to be a human,” Danny Weiss, Chief Advocacy Officer with Common Sense Media told CBS6.
A recent proposal is aimed at addressing that issue, spearheaded by New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez (D-59), Chair of the Senate Committee on Internet and Technology. The bill, S9051, would prohibit chatbots from stimulating emotional connections with children.
A release includes the features that would be banned:
-Outputs suggesting that the chatbot is a real or fictional character, or has a personal or professional connection/relationship role with the user
-Outputs…
