On April 28, 2026, a Bill to enact the Children's Health, Advancement, Trust, Boundaries, and Oversight in Technology Act (CHATBOT Act) was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Brian Schatz (D-HI), John Curtis (R-UT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA). Among other things, the Act would require operators of public-facing AI chatbot services to (i) require family accounts for known child users and obtain verifiable parental consent for known teen users; (ii) offer specified parental controls, including time limits, engagement-incentive disabling, financial-transaction disabling, and transparency-label requirements, at default most-protective settings; and (iii) refrain from using known children's or teens' personal data for targeted advertising. Enforcement is by the FTC (as an unfair or deceptive trade practice) and by state attorneys general.April 28, 2026
