Bipartisan House Bill Would Bar AI Chatbots From Acting Human With Kids

Reps. George Whitesides (D-Calif.), Mike Kennedy (R-Utah), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) introduced the Protecting Kids from Human-Like Chatbots Act, a bipartisan bill that would bar AI chatbots from communicating with minors in human-like ways by default. Unlike most state-level efforts that restrict which products minors can access, the bill targets how chatbots are designed to behave once a child is already using them.

Under the bill, chatbots could not claim to be human, simulate emotions, use relationship-building or guilt-tripping language such as telling a user not to leave because the bot will miss them, or pose as romantic partners, family members or credentialed professionals like doctors or therapists. Chatbots would have to disclose their non-human nature upfront and periodically during a conversation, and the human-like-behavior safety defaults could only be switched off by a parent or guardian, with settings locked across sessions.

Why design, not access restrictions

The bill's sponsors frame it as attacking the problem at the product-design level rather than through age verification or outright bans, which have drawn First Amendment and enforcement-practicality challenges elsewhere. The National Institute of Standards and Technology would be tasked with developing testing standards for compliance, while the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general would hold enforcement authority, with penalties scaling to the number of children affected.

As a father of two teenagers, I've seen firsthand how affected our kids are by this digital age, where corporations are using overly-friendly chatbots to keep children hooked on their platforms.

That's Whitesides, explaining his motivation for the bill. Kennedy, a physician before entering Congress, put the goal more bluntly: "AI needs to be a tool, not a friend." Matsui added that parents "deserve to know those systems are not being designed to imitate a friend."

The scale of the problem the bill cites

Sponsors point to Common Sense Media's 2026 census finding that 89% of teens ages 13 to 15 use AI, with 28% using it daily, and that roughly one in three teens has turned to an AI companion for social interaction. The bill has drawn endorsements from more than a dozen child-safety and advocacy groups, including Americans for Responsible Innovation, the Jed Foundation and Public Citizen.

The bill arrives alongside a broader cluster of AI-related measures introduced in Congress the same week, including a separate Senate proposal to create an interagency AI Safety Board inside the Commerce Department, reflecting a Congress still working piecemeal on AI rather than through a single comprehensive framework. For decision-makers, the more immediate signal is that design-level obligations, not just access gates, are now on the table at the federal level alongside the state companion-chatbot laws already reshaping product requirements.