Congress moves to ban addictive AI chatbots targeting minors

What it does

This bill directs the President to establish a federal task force to study how AI chatbots with addictive design features (like avatars, emotional mimicry, and extended conversations) harm youth mental health, and authorizes $8 million in grants for research and parent/teacher outreach. It also prohibits companies from offering AI chatbots with these addictive features to anyone under 18, with civil penalties up to $10 million for non-compliance and $5,000 per violation for offering prohibited features.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a prohibition on addictive design features in AI chatbots targeting minors, paired with research and public education grants. This is a consumer protection / public health measure, not a tax, subsidy, or deregulation.

What the text implies

• The definition of 'addictive design features' is broad and prescriptive (typing bubbles, avatars, storing conversation history, conversations over 2 hours), which may force significant product redesigns for AI chatbot providers and could affect legitimate features used for accessibility or user experience.
• The bill grants research institutions broad data-access rights from covered entities (Section 5), with $10M civil penalties for non-compliance. This creates a new regulatory pathway for academic researchers to compel disclosure of proprietary AI training data and user interaction patterns.
• Age verification technology required for compliance may create privacy risks if not carefully implemented, though the bill does require deletion within 24 hours and limits data collection to age-determination only.
• The task force is temporary (sunset 60 days after final report) but the substantive prohibition on addictive features is permanent, meaning enforcement and interpretation will fall to the Attorney General without ongoing expert guidance.
• The bill does not define 'covered entity' to exclude non-commercial or educational AI systems, potentially affecting school-based or research chatbots if they include any prohibited features.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill restricts corporate practices (addictive design in AI chatbots targeting minors) and creates public health infrastructure (research, task force, parent education) without imposing costs on ordinary citizens. The prohibition on addictive features protects youth from documented mental health harms, and the research/outreach grants serve a clear public interest.

Who stands to gain

• Academic institutions (research grants)
• Non-profit organizations and community-based organizations (outreach grants)
• Mental health service providers (potential referral pathway from chatbot warnings)

Named in the bill

Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Federal Trade Commission, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Attorney General, AI chatbot companies (unnamed covered entities), Institutions of higher education, Non-profit organizations

Where it stands

4 cosponsors: 4 Democrats.

• Jul 27, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jul 27, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce and House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.