CHAT Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 7218 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7218 To require artificial intelligence chatbots to implement age verification measures and establish certain protections for minor users, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 22, 2026 Mr. Lawler introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To require artificial intelligence chatbots to implement age verification measures and establish certain protections for minor users, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Children Harmed by AI Technology Act'' or the ``CHAT Act''. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. In this Act: (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal Trade Commission. (2) Companion ai chatbot.--The term ``companion AI chatbot''-- (A) means any software-based artificial intelligence system or program that exists for the primary purpose of simulating emotional interaction, friendship, companionship, or therapeutic communication with a user; and (B) does not include the following: (i) A bot that is used only for customer service, a business operational purpose, productivity and analysis related to source information, internal research, or technical assistance. (ii) A bot that is a feature of a video game and is limited to replies related to the video game that cannot discuss topics related to mental health, self-harm, sexually explicit conduct, or maintain a dialogue on other topics unrelated to the video game. (iii) A stand-alone consumer electronic device that functions as a speaker and voice command interface, acts as a voice-activate