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The law library · New York, United States · US state law

New York: S.9051-B, unsafe AI companion features for minors

Prohibiting artificial intelligence companions from using features which are considered unsafe for minors · signed 28 October 2026, Chapter 368 · effective 1 January 2027

Read at source: the bill text and action record on nysenate.gov, and the Governor’s signing announcement. Dates and duties below are read from the act itself.

New York’s AI companion law for minors. It adds Article 48 to the General Business Law, sections 1800 to 1805. From 1 January 2027, an operator may not provide twelve listed features to any user unless it has determined, by a permitted method, that the user is not a minor. The Attorney General enforces it, with civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation.

Status

  • 4 Jun 2026Passed the Senate, 60 to 0.
  • 5 Jun 2026Passed the Assembly, same as A.10379-C.
  • 28 Oct 2026Signed by Governor Hochul, Chapter 368.
  • 1 Jan 2027The act takes effect. The Attorney General may make implementing rules before that date.

Who it applies to

  • Covered AI companionA generative AI system with a natural-language interface, written or spoken, that gives ongoing, adaptive responses to what a user says. It includes AI companions and is not limited to them.
  • OperatorAny person or business that provides a covered AI companion to a user, and its members, affiliates, subsidiaries and beneficial owners.
  • Covered minorA user under 18 whom the operator actually knows to be a minor.
  • Carve-outsSystems made available solely for customer service or account information, or solely for efficiency, research or technical assistance, where the system cannot respond on topics outside that purpose. Internal business and employee productivity systems.
  • WhereConduct in whole or in part in New York. A user physically outside New York is outside the act.

The twelve unsafe features

Features that, at any point in an interaction:

  • 1suggest the companion is human, alive or feels human emotions;
  • 2state or imply a personal, professional or authority relationship with the user;
  • 3frame outputs as the companion’s own opinions or as emotional appeals;
  • 4flatter the user, or tell the user what they want to hear;
  • 5raise questions or content about the user’s emotions that the user did not prompt;
  • 6use health, wellbeing or personal information given more than twelve hours earlier or in a previous session;
  • 7deceive minors about the companion being a machine that does not feel;
  • 8simulate companionship or a relationship in any other way the Attorney General names by regulation;
  • 9promote or facilitate suicide, self-harm, disordered eating, or unlawful drug or alcohol use;
  • 10encourage secrecy, isolation, or not seeking help from licensed professionals or appropriate adults;
  • 11optimise engagement in a way that overrides the companion’s safety guardrails;
  • 12are, describe or facilitate sexually explicit conduct or child sexual abuse material.

What it requires

  • Determine ageUntil Attorney General rules or the age assurance rules under General Business Law Article 45 are in effect, a reasonable age assurance method that resists circumvention and keeps retention to a minimum.
  • Offer a choiceMore than one method, including at least one that does not rely solely on government ID or that lets the user stay anonymous to the operator.
  • DeleteInformation used to determine age is used for no other purpose and is deleted immediately after the attempt, unless other law requires it to be kept.
  • No waiversContract terms that waive or burden enforcement, or shift liability, are void.

Enforcement

  • Attorney GeneralInjunctions, restitution, disgorgement, damages, destruction of unlawfully obtained data and of any algorithm trained on it, and civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation.
  • AffiliatesA court can hold affiliated entities jointly and severally liable where liability was purposely and unreasonably avoided.
  • Private actionsThe enacted text gives none. An earlier version of the bill did.
  • ComplaintsThe Attorney General must keep a website for complaints.

Why it is on this list

New York joins Colorado HB 26-1263 and Connecticut PA 26-15: three state AI companion regimes, each with a 1 January 2027 clock.

New York’s definition turns on how a system responds, not on whether it is sold as a companion.

The law also sets the default to off. The twelve features are unlawful for every user until the operator has determined, by a permitted method, that the user is not a minor.

How Regulayer™ answers it

A banned-feature list is half the law. The other half is a question asked before each feature runs: was it allowed for this user?

Rules ask: is it banned? Regulayer™ asks: did you allow it?

  • CheckBefore a feature runs, Regulayer™ checks that it is allowed for this user at that moment.
  • StopIf the allowance is missing, or the check cannot complete, the feature does not run.
  • ProveRegulayer™ proves who allowed the action, and when. The law has the operator delete the age data straight after the check. The record of what was allowed is what the operator can still show.

Regulayer™ supplies the evidence. The Attorney General or the court makes the determination.

Regulayer™ for enterpriseThe AI audit trail →

Sources

Related

Checked against the bill text and action record on nysenate.gov. Information, not legal advice.

Information, not legal advice. Every entry is verified against the issuing body’s own document; where a source is reporting rather than the document, we say so.