AI chatbots must ask permission to use conversations
H.R. 9619 — People-First Chatbot Act · Filed by Valerie Foushee (D-NC) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jul 9, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill requires chatbot companies to get permission before using chat data. Companies cannot sell chat logs. They must check safety for kids every month. Chatbots must say they are computers, not people. Users can see and delete their own data. The government and regular people can sue companies that break these rules. People who are harmed can get up to $250,000.
Who it affects
Chatbot users gain rights to control their data and know they talk to AI. Chatbot companies must follow new rules about conversations. Kids get extra protection with monthly safety checks.
One thing to notice
Regular people can sue chatbot companies and get money if harmed. This creates big risk and may change how companies work.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Jul 9, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 9, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- chatbot — A computer program that talks with people by text or voice
- chat data — The words and information people type when talking to a chatbot
- chat logs — Records of all conversations between people and a chatbot
- permission — Approval from a person before a company can do something with their information
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (27,360 characters) on Sep 9, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,522 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-22.
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