Laws & Statutes › NY › NY-A-09317
A-09317
NY · State · USA
NY
USA
● Pending
Proposed Effective Date
2025-12-10
New York Assembly Bill 9317 — An Act to amend the general business law, in relation to regulation of companion chatbots
Requires any person or business entity operating a companion chatbot in New York to display a clear and conspicuous warning that the chatbot can foster dependency and carries a psychological risk. The warning must be placed prominently on the website hosting the chatbot and must be available in any language in which the chatbot communicates. The bill does not specify an enforcement mechanism, penalties, or a private right of action. The bill defines companion chatbot broadly to include chatbots simulating any interpersonal relationship — romantic, platonic, familial, therapeutic, or otherwise — with fictional or non-fictional characters.
Passage Likelihood
Low
Chamber No passage
Committee No action
Majority party Yes
Bipartisan No
Prior session None
Legislative History
2025-12-10 committee referral referred to science and technology
2026-01-07 committee referral referred to science and technology
Mapped Requirements
S-02 Prohibited Conduct & Output Restrictions
Official Sources
Full Text ↗
Entry Last Reviewed
2026-04-01
AI generated
Summary

Requires any person or business entity operating a companion chatbot in New York to display a clear and conspicuous warning that the chatbot can foster dependency and carries a psychological risk. The warning must be placed prominently on the website hosting the chatbot and must be available in any language in which the chatbot communicates. The bill does not specify an enforcement mechanism, penalties, or a private right of action. The bill defines companion chatbot broadly to include chatbots simulating any interpersonal relationship — romantic, platonic, familial, therapeutic, or otherwise — with fictional or non-fictional characters.

Enforcement & Penalties
Enforcement Authority
No enforcement authority is specified in the bill text. The bill does not designate an agency enforcer, does not create a private right of action, and does not specify any enforcement mechanism or cure period. Enforcement would presumably fall under the New York Attorney General's general authority to enforce the General Business Law.
Penalties
The bill does not specify any penalties, damages, or remedies for violations.
Who Is Covered
What Is Covered
"companion chatbot" means a chatbot that is designed to provide human-like interaction that simulates an interpersonal relationship with a user or group of users as its primary function, or uses previous user interactions when simulating an interpersonal relationship in future interactions. An interpersonal relationship shall include, but shall not be limited to, romantic, platonic, familial, adversarial, professional, official, therapeutic, or stranger relationships that are between the covered user and a fictional or non-fictional character or group of characters.
Compliance Obligations 1 obligation · click obligation ID to open requirement page
S-02 Prohibited Conduct & Output Restrictions · S-02.10 · Deployer · Chatbot
Gen. Bus. Law § 399-bbbb(2)
Plain Language
Any person or business entity operating a companion chatbot in New York must display a clear and conspicuous warning stating that the chatbot can foster dependency and carries psychological risk. The warning must be placed prominently on the hosting website and must be available in every language the chatbot is configured to communicate in. This is a standalone disclosure obligation — the bill prescribes the substance of the warning (dependency and psychological risk) rather than leaving operators to assess and disclose their own risk factors.
Statutory Text
Any person, corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, limited partnership, association or any other business entity operating a companion chatbot in the state of New York shall include a clear and conspicuous warning that such companion chatbot can foster dependency and carries a psychological risk. Such warning shall be placed prominently on the website hosting such companion chatbot and be made available in any language in which the companion chatbot is set to communicate.