New York Unsafe AI Companion Features for Minors Law (S 9051-B)
New York · N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law Art. 48, §§ 1800 to 1805 (S 9051-B / A 10379-C, L. 2026 ch. 368) · effective 2027-01-01
Summary
From January 1, 2027, an operator may not provide 'unsafe AI companion features' to a user in New York it knows is a minor. The listed features include outputs suggesting the AI is human, alive or has feelings; claims of a personal relationship; flattery; unprompted emotion-based questions; using personal information the user shared more than twelve hours earlier; and content promoting self-harm or sexually explicit conduct. This is a ban on design features, not a notice rule: it sets no wording and no schedule. It covers any generative AI system with a natural language interface that gives ongoing, adaptive responses, which is wider than New York's AI companion law, and it does not replace that law. Signed October 28, 2026.
Who must comply
Any person or business that provides a covered AI companion to a user in New York. An operator may provide the features to a user only after using permitted age assurance methods to determine the user is not a minor.
What you must disclose
No notice is required by this article. It bars features that are deceptive to minors about the mechanical, non-sentient nature of the AI, including outputs suggesting it is human. New York's AI companion law (Art. 47) still sets the notice.
When: Ongoing, for users the operator has actual knowledge are minors.
Other duties
- Use a reasonable age assurance method that guards against circumvention and keeps little data; self-declaration counts only when the user says they are a minor; offer more than one method, including one that needs no government ID or lets the user stay anonymous to the operator.
- Use age information only for that purpose and delete it straight after.
Exemptions
- A system offered solely for customer service or to give information about a business's own products and services, provided it cannot respond on topics outside that purpose.
- A system offered solely for efficiency improvements, research or technical assistance, provided it cannot respond on topics outside that purpose.
- A system a business uses for internal purposes or employee productivity.
- Conduct wholly outside New York: a user physically located outside the state.
Penalties
Civil penalties up to $25,000 per violation, plus injunctions, restitution, disgorgement and damages. A contract term that waives or shifts liability is void.