WHAT THIS BILL REGULATES · 3 REQUIREMENT TYPES
How Is This Bill Enforced
Verbatim statutory text on the left; plain-language analysis and a per-section checklist on the right. Numbered markers cross-link to the matching checklist row.
(a)(1) 1 IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection (f)(3), it shall be unlawful for a developerdeveloperThe term ‘‘developer’’ means an entity that designs, codes, trains, fine-tunes, or substantially modifies an artificial intelligence chatbot.Sec. 3(3) to make a chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2) that does not satisfy the requirements of paragraph (2) available as a service for deployment to consumers that such developerdeveloperThe term ‘‘developer’’ means an entity that designs, codes, trains, fine-tunes, or substantially modifies an artificial intelligence chatbot.Sec. 3(3) knows, or reasonably should know, will be available to, or is reasonably likely to be used by, a minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6).
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(b)(2) 2 RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of paragraph (1)(B), a parental controls frameworkparental controls frameworkThe term ‘‘parental controls framework’’ means a system of technical and procedural controls that enable a chatbot provider to reasonably confirm that the non-personified default setting of the account of a minor user is managed by a parent or legal guardian of such user.Sec. 3(12) that determines whether a person is the parent or legal guardian of a minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6) user solely on the basis of statements by any individual, including the minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6) user, does not enable a providerproviderverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(9) to reasonably confirm that the non-personified default setting of the account of the minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6) user is managed by a parent or legal guardian of the minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6) user.
(c) DUAL-ROLE ENTITIES.—An entity that is both a developerdeveloperThe term ‘‘developer’’ means an entity that designs, codes, trains, fine-tunes, or substantially modifies an artificial intelligence chatbot.Sec. 3(3) and a providerproviderverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(9) with respect to the same chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2) shall satisfy the requirements of both subsection (a) and subsection (b) with respect to such chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2).
(d) 3 PROHIBITION ON NUDGING.— (1) IN GENERAL.—A developerdeveloperThe term ‘‘developer’’ means an entity that designs, codes, trains, fine-tunes, or substantially modifies an artificial intelligence chatbot.Sec. 3(3) or providerproviderverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(9) subject to subsection (a) or (b) may not, through any means, including the means specified in paragraph (2), nudge, prompt, suggest, encourage, or otherwise induce a user the developerdeveloperThe term ‘‘developer’’ means an entity that designs, codes, trains, fine-tunes, or substantially modifies an artificial intelligence chatbot.Sec. 3(3) or providerproviderverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(9) knows or has reason to knowknows or has reason to knowverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(5) is a minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6), or for whom a determination described in subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii) has not been made, to disable, modify, or circumvent the non-personified default settingnon-personified default settingverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(7) or to misrepresent the age of the user. (2) SPECIFIED MEANS.—The means specified in this paragraph are as follows: (A) Training, fine-tuning, reward optimization, or system-level instructions designed or optimized to generate responses that encourage or request that the minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6) alter communication or operational settingsoperational settingThe term ‘‘operational setting’’ means a distinct configuration of a chatbot that determines the persona, self-representation, and interaction behavior of the chatbot and that a provider can activate or deactivate for a user independently of any other such configuration.Sec. 3(8). (B) Interface design elements, dark patternsdark patternThe term ‘‘dark pattern’’ means a user interface designed or manipulated with the substantial effect of subverting or impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or choice.Sec. 3(13), or notifications that direct or encourage users to alter the non-personified default settingnon-personified default settingverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(7). (C) Any representation to the minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6), with respect to the chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2), that the performance, utility, or relationship to the minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6) will improve if the non-personified default settingnon-personified default settingverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(7) is disabled.
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(g) 5 PUBLIC INPUT.—Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in coordination with the Federal Trade Commission, shall— (1) publish a request for information soliciting public comment on the technical, development, and implementation considerations relevant to this Act; and (2) convene not fewer than 1 public workshop to receive input from chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2) developersdeveloperThe term ‘‘developer’’ means an entity that designs, codes, trains, fine-tunes, or substantially modifies an artificial intelligence chatbot.Sec. 3(3) and providersproviderverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(9), technical experts, child development experts, and other interested parties.
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(l) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsections (a), (b), (d), and (e) shall take effect on the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Section 2 is the operative heart of the bill. It splits obligations between two covered roles: a developer (who designs, trains, or fine-tunes the chatbot) and a provider (who makes the chatbot available to end users). Developers must build chatbots that support the non-personified default setting — an AI-identity-disclosing, non-anthropomorphic, non-manipulative configuration — and ship it active by default for any user not confirmed to be an adult, in a form that is technically separable and cannot be disengaged for unconfirmed users. Providers deploying to known-minor users must activate that default, maintain a parental controls framework, build a conforming account framework, and refrain from overriding the setting.
Both developers and providers are barred from nudging, prompting, or inducing a known minor to disable the setting or misrepresent their age, including through training, reward optimization, dark patterns, or claims that performance will improve if the setting is turned off. The section provides detailed liability shields (a provider implementing a compliant developer design, and a developer whose terms prohibit minor deployment) and two exemption paths (developer contractual prohibition on minor deployment; provider that does not serve minors and enforces that policy). Enforcement runs through the FTC as a UDAP violation and through state attorneys general, with per-minor and per-deployment violation counting, a 30-day cure period, and a good-faith safe harbor keyed to forthcoming NIST voluntary technical guidance. Operative subsections (a), (b), (d), and (e) take effect one year after enactment.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Kids from Human-Like Chatbotschatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2) Act’’.
Section 1 provides the short title, the Protecting Kids from Human-Like Chatbots Act. It creates no compliance obligation.
(1) AUTHORIZED EDUCATORauthorized educator(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘authorized educator’’ means an individual employed or engaged by an educational agency or institution who, within the scope of such employment and under the administrative control of the educational agency or institution, is permitted by the institution to configure or adjust the non-personified default setting within a school-managed deployment. (B) EXCLUSION.—Such term does not include such an individual whose status as an educator is self-attested through chatbot interaction.Sec. 3(1).— (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘authorized educatorauthorized educator(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘authorized educator’’ means an individual employed or engaged by an educational agency or institution who, within the scope of such employment and under the administrative control of the educational agency or institution, is permitted by the institution to configure or adjust the non-personified default setting within a school-managed deployment. (B) EXCLUSION.—Such term does not include such an individual whose status as an educator is self-attested through chatbot interaction.Sec. 3(1)’’ means an individual employed or engaged by an educational agency or institutioneducational agency or institutionThe term ‘‘educational agency or institution’’ means any public or private agency or institution to which funds have been made available by the Secretary of Education that— (A) provides educational services or instruction, or both, to students; or (B) is authorized to direct and control public elementary or secondary, or postsecondary educational institutions.Sec. 3(4) who, within the scope of such employment and under the administrative control of the educational agency or institutioneducational agency or institutionThe term ‘‘educational agency or institution’’ means any public or private agency or institution to which funds have been made available by the Secretary of Education that— (A) provides educational services or instruction, or both, to students; or (B) is authorized to direct and control public elementary or secondary, or postsecondary educational institutions.Sec. 3(4), is permitted by the institution to configure or adjust the non-personified default settingnon-personified default settingverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(7) within a school-managed deploymentschool-managed deploymentThe term ‘‘school-managed deployment’’ means a configuration in which a chatbot is made available to one or more minor users through accounts that are provisioned, administered, and controlled by an educational agency or institution (or by an authorized educator acting on behalf of the educational agency or institution), by means of institutional administrative controls, for use in connection with the educational program of the institution. Such term does not include a chatbot account created, controlled, or accessed by a minor user independently of an educational agency or institution.Sec. 3(10). (B) EXCLUSION.—Such term does not include such an individual whose status as an educator is self-attested through chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2) interaction.
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(3) DEVELOPERdeveloperThe term ‘‘developer’’ means an entity that designs, codes, trains, fine-tunes, or substantially modifies an artificial intelligence chatbot.Sec. 3(3).—The term ‘‘developerdeveloperThe term ‘‘developer’’ means an entity that designs, codes, trains, fine-tunes, or substantially modifies an artificial intelligence chatbot.Sec. 3(3)’’ means an entity that designs, codes, trains, fine-tunes, or substantially modifies an artificial intelligence chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2).
(4) EDUCATIONAL AGENCY OR INSTITUTIONeducational agency or institutionThe term ‘‘educational agency or institution’’ means any public or private agency or institution to which funds have been made available by the Secretary of Education that— (A) provides educational services or instruction, or both, to students; or (B) is authorized to direct and control public elementary or secondary, or postsecondary educational institutions.Sec. 3(4).—The term ‘‘educational agency or institutioneducational agency or institutionThe term ‘‘educational agency or institution’’ means any public or private agency or institution to which funds have been made available by the Secretary of Education that— (A) provides educational services or instruction, or both, to students; or (B) is authorized to direct and control public elementary or secondary, or postsecondary educational institutions.Sec. 3(4)’’ means any public or private agency or institution to which funds have been made available by the Secretary of Education that— (A) provides educational services or instruction, or both, to students; or (B) is authorized to direct and control public elementary or secondary, or postsecondary educational institutions.
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(6) MINORminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6).—The term ‘‘minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6)’’ means an individual under the age of 18.
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(8) OPERATIONAL SETTINGoperational settingThe term ‘‘operational setting’’ means a distinct configuration of a chatbot that determines the persona, self-representation, and interaction behavior of the chatbot and that a provider can activate or deactivate for a user independently of any other such configuration.Sec. 3(8).—The term ‘‘operational settingoperational settingThe term ‘‘operational setting’’ means a distinct configuration of a chatbot that determines the persona, self-representation, and interaction behavior of the chatbot and that a provider can activate or deactivate for a user independently of any other such configuration.Sec. 3(8)’’ means a distinct configuration of a chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2) that determines the persona, self-representation, and interaction behavior of the chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2) and that a providerproviderverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(9) can activate or deactivate for a user independently of any other such configuration.
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(10) SCHOOL-MANAGED DEPLOYMENTschool-managed deploymentThe term ‘‘school-managed deployment’’ means a configuration in which a chatbot is made available to one or more minor users through accounts that are provisioned, administered, and controlled by an educational agency or institution (or by an authorized educator acting on behalf of the educational agency or institution), by means of institutional administrative controls, for use in connection with the educational program of the institution. Such term does not include a chatbot account created, controlled, or accessed by a minor user independently of an educational agency or institution.Sec. 3(10).—The term ‘‘school-managed deploymentschool-managed deploymentThe term ‘‘school-managed deployment’’ means a configuration in which a chatbot is made available to one or more minor users through accounts that are provisioned, administered, and controlled by an educational agency or institution (or by an authorized educator acting on behalf of the educational agency or institution), by means of institutional administrative controls, for use in connection with the educational program of the institution. Such term does not include a chatbot account created, controlled, or accessed by a minor user independently of an educational agency or institution.Sec. 3(10)’’ means a configuration in which a chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2) is made available to one or more minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6) users through accounts that are provisioned, administered, and controlled by an educational agency or institutioneducational agency or institutionThe term ‘‘educational agency or institution’’ means any public or private agency or institution to which funds have been made available by the Secretary of Education that— (A) provides educational services or instruction, or both, to students; or (B) is authorized to direct and control public elementary or secondary, or postsecondary educational institutions.Sec. 3(4) (or by an authorized educatorauthorized educator(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘authorized educator’’ means an individual employed or engaged by an educational agency or institution who, within the scope of such employment and under the administrative control of the educational agency or institution, is permitted by the institution to configure or adjust the non-personified default setting within a school-managed deployment. (B) EXCLUSION.—Such term does not include such an individual whose status as an educator is self-attested through chatbot interaction.Sec. 3(1) acting on behalf of the educational agency or institutioneducational agency or institutionThe term ‘‘educational agency or institution’’ means any public or private agency or institution to which funds have been made available by the Secretary of Education that— (A) provides educational services or instruction, or both, to students; or (B) is authorized to direct and control public elementary or secondary, or postsecondary educational institutions.Sec. 3(4)), by means of institutional administrative controls, for use in connection with the educational program of the institution. Such term does not include a chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2) account created, controlled, or accessed by a minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6) user independently of an educational agency or institutioneducational agency or institutionThe term ‘‘educational agency or institution’’ means any public or private agency or institution to which funds have been made available by the Secretary of Education that— (A) provides educational services or instruction, or both, to students; or (B) is authorized to direct and control public elementary or secondary, or postsecondary educational institutions.Sec. 3(4).
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(12) PARENTAL CONTROLS FRAMEWORKparental controls frameworkThe term ‘‘parental controls framework’’ means a system of technical and procedural controls that enable a chatbot provider to reasonably confirm that the non-personified default setting of the account of a minor user is managed by a parent or legal guardian of such user.Sec. 3(12).—The term ‘‘parental controls frameworkparental controls frameworkThe term ‘‘parental controls framework’’ means a system of technical and procedural controls that enable a chatbot provider to reasonably confirm that the non-personified default setting of the account of a minor user is managed by a parent or legal guardian of such user.Sec. 3(12)’’ means a system of technical and procedural controls that enable a chatbotchatbotverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(2) providerproviderverbatim_mismatch_source_pdf_encoding_false_positiveSec. 3(9) to reasonably confirm that the non-personified default setting of the account of a minorminorThe term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual under the age of 18.Sec. 3(6) user is managed by a parent or legal guardian of such user.
(13) DARK PATTERNdark patternThe term ‘‘dark pattern’’ means a user interface designed or manipulated with the substantial effect of subverting or impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or choice.Sec. 3(13).—The term ‘‘dark patterndark patternThe term ‘‘dark pattern’’ means a user interface designed or manipulated with the substantial effect of subverting or impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or choice.Sec. 3(13)’’ means a user interface designed or manipulated with the substantial effect of subverting or impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or choice.
Section 3 defines the terms that set the scope and substance of the Act. The most consequential are chatbot (any software application generating non-predetermined, adaptive responses to open-ended, natural-language, or multimodal input, with carve-outs for narrow single-purpose tools and enterprise-only applications), developer and provider (the two covered roles), and non-personified default setting (Sec. 3(7)), which specifies the AI-identity disclosure, anti-anthropomorphism, and anti-manipulation characteristics the operative obligations require.
The knows or has reason to know definition (Sec. 3(5)) is central to scope: it is satisfied by actual knowledge or by possessing/accessing age-related information whose totality would lead a reasonable developer or provider to conclude the user is likely a minor — while expressly declining to require any new age-verification or data collection. These provisions create no standalone obligation but govern how every Section 2 duty applies.