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Senate committee adopts child‑protection AI rules in merged chatbot bill; private right of action retained
Summary
Lawmakers adopted an amendment merging two bills to create state rules for large chatbot operators with protections aimed at minors, age verification requirements, parental‑consent mechanisms, incident reporting to the attorney general and civil remedies including penalties and private suits.
A Senate committee voted to adopt a subcommittee amendment and report favorably S.8‑96 as amended, a measure that would establish state regulation of AI chatbots with a focus on protecting minors.
Sponsor Senator Lieber described the bill as a years‑in‑the‑making effort focused on child safety and stakeholder input. He said the legislation "provides parents with the with 3 new tools they can combat chat bots with" and that sponsors worked with retail, banking and other stakeholders to narrow the policy to its intended scope (speaker 13).
Committee staff summarized the amendment’s chief provisions, which add Chapter 81 to Title 39 and impose requirements for covered chatbot operators (those with 50,000 or more monthly active users worldwide). Major elements include:
- Default limited‑access modes for unverified users and reasonable age‑verification processes (acceptable methods listed include government ID, military ID, bank information or third‑party verifiers) with verification data deleted within 24 hours after classification.
- Two regulatory tiers for minors (under‑16 and 16–17) with parental‑consent and parental‑control requirements; for users 16 and 17, parental contact information or a linked account is mandatory.
- Prohibitions on using minor account data for targeted advertising or AI model training (with narrow exceptions for safety), and bans on features that facilitate concealment from parents or prioritize engagement over well‑being.
- Incident reporting obligations to the attorney general (15 days for an initial report, supplemental report within 60 days) with reports confidential and exempt from FOIA; civil penalties up to $50,000 per violation per day and a private right of action for harmed persons or their guardians.
Committee debate touched on enforceability, previous litigation over related social‑media rules, and whether the narrower, child‑focused bill would avoid constitutional challenges that affected earlier social‑media regulation. Senator from Dorchester noted the bill narrows scope to child protections and preserves a private right of action in that context (speaker 9).
The committee adopted the subcommittee amendment by voice vote and then voted to report the bill as amended to the full Senate. The transcript records no roll‑call vote or floor schedule.
