Bill > HB2311

This bill establishes new requirements for operators, defined as entities making conversational AI services available to the public, which are AI software applications that primarily simulate human conversation. Operators must clearly inform users when they are interacting with a conversational AI service, either through a persistent on-screen notice or at the start of each session and every three hours. The bill prohibits operators from offering engagement-boosting rewards to minors at unpredictable intervals and mandates reasonable measures to prevent conversational AI services from generating sexually explicit content or encouraging sexual conduct, especially for minor account holders, by prohibiting claims of sentience, simulating emotional dependence, or engaging in romantic or sexual role-playing. Operators must provide privacy and account management tools for minors and their parents or guardians, and they must have protocols to respond to prompts about suicidal ideation or self-harm by referring users to crisis services, while also preventing the AI from encouraging or glorifying such actions. Furthermore, operators are prohibited from falsely representing that their AI provides professional mental or behavioral healthcare. The bill restricts the use of digital identification systems, which use methods like facial recognition or government IDs to verify identity or estimate age, solely for age verification, requiring a privacy-preserving alternative if offered, and mandates that any collected age-related data be deleted or de-identified and not used for advertising or profiling. Operators must also annually certify the destruction of this data and publish reports on their age-assurance methods. Violations can result in injunctions and civil penalties, with enforcement solely by the attorney general, and the bill clarifies it does not create a private right of action or authorize tracking of general internet activity.