AI Frontier Institute

Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Act; established, prohibited practices, penalties.

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HB 635 (Virginia, 2026) was not enacted; it was continued to the next session in the House Committee on Communications, Technology and Innovation. This text is the committee's proposed substitute. If enacted, it would create the Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Act (new Chapter 60, §§ 59.1-614 through 59.1-620, Title 59.1) and take effect January 1, 2027. Section 59.1-614 defines terms, including "companion chatbot." That term means a generative AI system that simulates a sustained human-like relationship by retaining prior interactions, asking unprompted questions, or sustaining personal dialogue. Customer-service, internal-productivity, and limited video-game bots are excluded. Under § 59.1-615, operators could not make a companion chatbot available to a minor (under 18) if it can encourage self-harm, violence, drug or alcohol use, or disordered eating. They also could not offer it to a minor if it can provide unsupervised mental health therapy, engage in sexually explicit interactions, encourage secrecy or isolation, put validating the minor ahead of safety, or optimize engagement over its safety guardrails. Operators must use commercially reasonable age-screening methods. Before 2027 a user counts as a minor only if the operator has actual knowledge. From January 1, 2027 the standard is whether the operator has reasonably determined the user is not a minor. Section 59.1-616 requires a persistent disclosure that the chatbot is not human. It also requires pop-up notices at login, every 90 minutes, and on request. It bars implying that output comes from a licensed professional. Section 59.1-617 requires a protocol to detect suicidal ideation or self-harm and refer users to crisis services such as the 988 hotline. Section 59.1-618 bars training on a minor's inputs without written parent or guardian consent. Section 59.1-619 requires an incident-reporting mechanism with a public anonymized catalog, publication of safety test findings, and semiannual public reports. Under § 59.1-620 and the new subdivision 88 of § 59.1-200, violations are prohibited practices enforceable under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.

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