Colorado Now Has the Strongest Conversational AI Child Safety Law in the Country

DENVER, CO – Today, Governor Polis signed HB26-1263 to protect users, especially youth, from the demonstrated harms of conversational AI technology. Polis was joined by students and community organizations who advocated for the bill’s passage. The bipartisan bill, sponsored by Representatives Sean Camacho (D-Denver) and Javier Mabrey (D-Denver) and Senators Iman Jodeh (D-Aurora) and John Carson (R-Highlands Ranch), establishes baseline safety standards for conversational AI services operating in Colorado with enhanced protections for minors.

Specifically, this new law:

• Requires transparency: Operators must disclose to users that they are interacting with artificial intelligence, not a human.
• Mandates safe messaging protocols: Operators must implement a response protocol for user prompts involving suicidal ideation or self-harm and are prohibited from implying that chatbot-provided information is equivalent to licensed professional care.
• Prohibits predatory design targeting minors: Operators cannot use gamification techniques like points, streaks, badges, or rewards to intentionally increase engagement among minor users.
• Limits harmful content exposure: Operators must take technologically feasible measures to prevent chatbots from producing sexually explicit material or simulating emotional dependence with minor users. This means that AI chatbot operators must exhaust every effort available to protect kids from harmful sexual exploitation.
• Protects user privacy: Operators must provide users with tools to manage their privacy and account settings.

Technical feasibility is a standard used across Colorado law. It does not offer deference to tech companies to determine what is feasible for their individual chatbot service; rather, it dictates that the only consideration is whether a technology system is capable of doing something, without factoring in economic or operational considerations.

Under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, violations are subject to a penalty of $20,000 per violation, with no cap on total liability, making HB26-1263 one of the strongest laws of its kind in the country.

“With social media, we waited a decade before recognizing and addressing the harm it was causing to our communities,” said Alexis Alltop, Policy Manager at Healthier Colorado. “Today, Colorado is demonstrating that we will not make the same mistake with emerging conversational AI technology. We’re proud to see our state become a national leader in establishing protections against the real and growing threats that unregulated AI chatbots pose to Coloradans’ health and well-being.”