States Weigh AI Chatbot Rules

Lawmakers in North Dakota, Washington state and New Jersey are considering or advancing rules to make AI chatbots safer, especially for minors. North Dakota’s proposal would require operators to identify and report prompts suggesting mental-health concerns and verify users’ ages for explicit AI-generated content; it was held for revision and further consideration. Washington’s proposed safeguards would require chatbots to disclose that they are not human, prohibit sexually explicit exchanges with minors and direct young users showing signs of self-harm toward mental-health services. In New Jersey, an Assembly committee advanced a bill treating chatbots as products under liability rules and setting content and data-privacy requirements, though lawmakers raised questions about its scope and effectiveness. The proposals come amid concerns about minors’ emotional reliance on chatbots and lawsuits alleging links between chatbot interactions and teen mental-health crises.