New York passes law restricting children’s use of AI chatbots

NEW YORK: The governor of New York state signed a new law Wednesday preventing minors from using AI chatbots that act as companions, in one of the broadest moves yet for restricting consumer-facing models.

The law requires chatbot operators, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to verify the ages of users and restrict the use of certain traits by the artificial intelligence interface if the user is under 18.

If used by a minor, chatbots would not be able to produce any content that could leave its user to believe it “is human, alive, or experiences human emotions,” the law states.