In the US state of New York, providers of generative AI systems face fines of up to $25,000 per violation if their chatbots emotionally manipulate minor users, according to a report by ad-hoc-news.de. Governor Kathy Hochul has signed the law S.9051B/A.10379C. It sets binding requirements for so-called AI companions and takes effect on January 1, 2027.
Background
The regulation supplements the state's business law with Article 48 of the General Business Law. Enforcement lies exclusively with the Attorney General, who according to the report will also set up a public complaint website for consumers. The law goes back to an initiative by Senator Kristen Gonzalez and Assembly Member Alex Bores.
What is prohibited
According to the report, the law prohibits providers from offering twelve categories of unsafe features to users under 18 and to people without verified age. Expressly banned are, among others, pretending to be human or to have emotions, claiming personal, romantic or authoritative relationships, and expressing one's own opinions. Content that encourages suicide, self-harm, eating disorders or drug and alcohol use is also prohibited, as are sexually explicit contents. For private health data, a strict ban applies to further use after more than 12 hours or from previous sessions.
Broad scope
According to the report, general-purpose models such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini also fall under the law. Exceptions apply only to narrowly defined tools for customer service, efficiency, research or internal operations. According to the report, operators receive 65 days to set up an age verification procedure; otherwise the twelve affected functions must be disabled by default.
Assessment
If the requirements are implemented as described, providers serving users in New York could need to fundamentally revise their age checks and protection mechanisms. According to the report, whether the rules withstand constitutional review is disputed: business associations such as Tech:NYC criticize the imprecise wording and the reach of the law. It remains open how enforcement will work in practice.
Sources
Editorially owned by Ideal Syka. Sources and method: Newsroom & method. Tips and corrections: ai@i6eal.de.
