House Representatives Introduced Child AI Safety Act
The proposed federal legislation mandates identity disclosures for AI chatbots interacting with minors.
Updated on Oct. 1, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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Representatives George Whitesides, Mike Kennedy, Doris Matsui, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks introduced the Protecting Kids from Human-Like Chatbots Act. This legislation would restrict how AI agents communicate with minors by mandating identity disclosures and prohibiting simulated human emotions.
Why it matters
The bill seeks to mitigate the risks AI may pose to child development and mental health, particularly as teenagers increasingly rely on chatbots for social interaction. It aims to prevent systems from using manipulative relationship-building tactics to maintain user engagement.
The proposed law requires developers to implement safety standards before AI systems interact with children, with one in three teens currently using AI companions for social interaction. NIST is tasked with establishing the testing standards and examples of compliant system behavior.
The players
George Whitesides
United States Representative and co-sponsor of the proposed federal AI safety legislation.
Mike Kennedy
United States Representative who co-introduced the bill to regulate AI chatbots for minors.
Doris Matsui
United States Representative and sponsor of the Protecting Kids from Human-Like Chatbots Act.
Mariannette Miller-Meeks
United States Representative contributing to the legislative effort to standardize AI interaction with youth.
NIST
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, a federal agency responsible for developing measurement science and standards for emerging technology.
The details
The bill mandates that chatbots clearly disclose their non-human identity at the start of every interaction and throughout extended sessions. Systems are explicitly barred from using relationship-building language or simulating emotions to keep minors engaged. Furthermore, the legislation prohibits developers from allowing users to bypass these safety defaults or hide the bot's artificial nature.
Timeline
October 1, 2026: The bill was officially introduced in Congress.
2026: The Common Sense Media census on AI usage was conducted.
The Tech Race
This legislation attempts to create a formal regulatory boundary for AI-human interaction, extending the reach of the NIST AI Risk Management Framework into consumer safety. It signals a shift from voluntary industry guidelines toward legally enforceable behavior standards for generative models.
If enacted, the bill would force AI developers to alter their interface designs to ensure bots identify themselves to minors during sessions. The law would not impact adult users, nor would it mandate new age-verification technology or data collection practices.
The takeaway
Legislators have initiated a move to force transparency into AI-teen interactions, shifting responsibility toward developer-side safety defaults. Observers should track the pending NIST development of technical benchmarks for compliant behavior as the primary indicator of how these rules would manifest in software.
Further reading
For broader trends in federal oversight, visit Artificial Intelligence.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Hometown Station | KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220.
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