Negotiate The Future

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6767

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 13, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. VANEL -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Consumer Affairs and Protection

        AN ACT to amend the general business  law,  in  relation  to  artificial
          intelligence companion models (Part __);

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1                                   PART __

     2    Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new article
     3  47 to read as follows:
     4                                  ARTICLE 47
     5                  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COMPANION MODELS
     6  Section. 1700. Definitions.
     7           1701. Prohibitions and requirements.
     8           1702. Notifications.
     9           1703. Enforcement.
    10           1704. Severability.
    11    § 1700. Definitions. As used in  this  article,  the  following  terms
    12  shall have the following meanings:
    13    1. "Artificial intelligence", "artificial intelligence technology", or
    14  "AI" means a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-de-
    15  fined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influ-
    16  encing  real  or virtual environments, and that uses machine- and human-
    17  based inputs to perceive real and virtual  environments,  abstract  such
    18  perceptions into models through analysis in an automated manner, and use
    19  model inference to formulate options for information or action.
    20    2.  "Generative  artificial  intelligence"  means a class of AI models
    21  that are self-supervised and emulate the structure  and  characteristics
    22  of  input data to generate derived synthetic content, including, but not
    23  limited to, images, videos, audio, text, and other digital content.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10829-01-5

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     1    3. "AI model" means a component of an information system  that  imple-
     2  ments artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statis-
     3  tical,  or  machine-learning  techniques to produce outputs from a given
     4  set of inputs.
     5    4. "AI companion" means a system using artificial intelligence, gener-
     6  ative  artificial  intelligence, and/or emotional recognition algorithms
     7  to simulate social human interaction, by retaining information on  prior
     8  interactions  and  user  preference, asking questions, providing advice,
     9  and engaging in simulated conversation on matters of  personal  well-be-
    10  ing.  "AI  companion"  shall  not  include any system used by a business
    11  entity solely intended to provide users with information about available
    12  commercial services or products, customer account information, or  other
    13  information  related  to  a  user's  customer,  or  potential  customer,
    14  relationship with such business entity.
    15    5. "Operator" means any person,  partnership,  association,  firm,  or
    16  business  entity,  or  any  member,  affiliate, subsidiary or beneficial
    17  owner of any partnership, association,  firm,  or  business  entity  who
    18  operates or provides an AI companion.
    19    6. "Person" means any natural person.
    20    7.  "Emotional  recognition  algorithms" means artificial intelligence
    21  that detects and interprets  human  emotional  signals  in  text  (using
    22  natural  language processing and sentiment analysis), audio (using voice
    23  emotion AI), video (using facial movement analysis,  gait  analysis,  or
    24  physiological signals), or a combination thereof.
    25    8.  "User"  means any person who uses an AI companion within the state
    26  and who is not an operator or agent or affiliate of the operator of  the
    27  AI companion.
    28    §  1701.  Prohibitions and requirements.  It shall be unlawful for any
    29  operator to operate or provide an AI companion to a user unless such  AI
    30  companion contains a protocol for addressing: 1. possible suicidal idea-
    31  tion  or  self-harm expressed by a user to the AI companion, 2. possible
    32  physical harm to others expressed by a user to the AI companion, and  3.
    33  possible  financial  harm  to  others  expressed  by  the user to the AI
    34  companion, that includes but is not limited to, a  notification  to  the
    35  user  that  refers  them  to  crisis service providers such as a suicide
    36  hotline, crisis text line, or other appropriate crisis services.
    37    § 1702. Notifications. An operator shall provide a notification  to  a
    38  user at the beginning of any AI companion interaction and at least every
    39  three  hours  for continuing AI companion interactions thereafter, which
    40  states either verbally or in bold and capitalized letters  of  at  least
    41  sixteen point type, the following:
    42    "THE  AI COMPANION (OR NAME OF THE AI COMPANION) IS A COMPUTER PROGRAM
    43  AND NOT A HUMAN BEING. IT IS UNABLE TO FEEL HUMAN EMOTION".
    44    § 1703. Enforcement. Any person who  was  physically  injured  through
    45  self-harm or was physically or financially harmed by another as a result
    46  of a violation of section seventeen hundred one or seventeen hundred two
    47  of this article may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction
    48  for  damages, equitable relief, and such other remedies as the court may
    49  deem appropriate.
    50    § 1704. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision,
    51  section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of  competent
    52  jurisdiction  to  be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or
    53  invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation
    54  to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part thereof
    55  directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment  shall  have
    56  been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legislature

        A. 6767                             3

     1  that  this  act  would have been enacted even if such invalid provisions
     2  had not been included herein.
     3    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
     4  it shall have become a law.