HR7218-119

What This Bill Does

The CHAT Act targets software-based AI systems built primarily to simulate emotional interaction, friendship, companionship, or therapeutic communication. It excludes ordinary customer-service bots, business productivity or research tools, limited video-game bots, and voice-assistant speakers. Covered entities that own, operate, or make companion AI chatbots available in the United States must require user accounts, freeze existing accounts on the effective date, verify ages using a commercially available method reasonably designed for accuracy, and classify users as minors or adults. Minor accounts must be linked to a verified parental account, receive verifiable parental consent, trigger immediate parental notice if suicidal ideation appears, and be blocked from companion chatbots that engage in sexually explicit communication. Covered entities must minimize use and storage of age-verification data, monitor for suicidal ideation, provide National Suicide Prevention Lifeline contact information to users and affiliated parental accounts, and show a clear popup at the start of each interaction and at least every 60 minutes stating the user is not speaking with a human. FTC must issue guidance within 180 days, enforce violations as unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and share enforcement space with State attorneys general. A covered entity is deemed not liable if it relies in good faith on age information, complies with FTC guidance, and reasonably follows accepted age-verification standards.

Who Benefits and How

Minors using companion AI chatbots, parents and guardians, chatbot users who may express suicidal ideation, consumer protection agencies, State attorneys general, and public health advocates benefit from age gates, parental consent, parental alerts, sexual-content blocking, suicide-prevention resources, recurring non-human disclosures, and FTC/State enforcement tools. Responsible chatbot operators benefit from guidance and a safe harbor tied to good-faith age verification and industry standards.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Companion AI chatbot operators, AI platform compliance teams, age-verification vendors, data-protection staff, FTC staff, State attorney general offices, and federal courts face new account, age-verification, parental-consent, monitoring, popup, data-minimization, guidance, enforcement, and litigation burdens. Operators serving existing users must freeze accounts until age information is verified and may face penalties, restitution, damages, or injunctive relief for violations.

Key Provisions

• Defines companion AI chatbots and covered entities while excluding customer-service, business, limited video-game, and basic voice-assistant bots.
• Requires user accounts and commercially available age verification for new and existing companion AI chatbot accounts.
• Requires parental accounts, verifiable parental consent, suicidal-ideation notice, and sexual-content blocking for minor users.
• Requires age-data minimization, suicide-prevention resource notices, and recurring popups that disclose the user is not speaking with a human.
• Requires FTC compliance guidance within 180 days and limits enforcement theories to specific statutory or regulatory violations.
• Authorizes FTC and State attorney general enforcement and creates a good-faith safe harbor for compliant operators.