CHATBOT SAFETY ACT

HB0174

HOUSE BILL 174

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Andrea Romero
and
Art De La Cruz

AN ACT

RELATING TO CONSUMER PROTECTION; ENACTING THE CHATBOT SAFETY
ACT; ESTABLISHING SAFETY AND TRANSPARENCY STANDARDS FOR
COMPANION ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PRODUCTS; DECLARING
VIOLATIONS TO BE UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES; PROVIDING
REMEDIES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1.
[
NEW MATERIAL
] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be
cited as the "Chatbot Safety Act".

SECTION 2.
[
NEW MATERIAL
] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the
Chatbot Safety Act:

A. "artificial intelligence" means an engineered or
a machine-based system that varies in its level of autonomy and
that can, for explicit and implicit objectives, infer from the
input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence
physical or virtual environments;

B. "companion artificial intelligence product"
means a software application that uses generative artificial
intelligence and, through the software application's design and
function, is capable of generating adaptive, personalized and
emotionally resonant responses to sustain a coherent, long-term, one-on-one conversational relationship with a user;

C. "crisis intervention protocol" means a pre-planned procedure for detecting and responding to user
expressions of suicidal ideation, self-harm or imminent threats
of violence to others;

D. "deploy" means to put into effect, host or
otherwise commercialize an artificial intelligence system or a
companion artificial intelligence product;

E. "deployer" means a person that deploys an
artificial intelligence system;

F. "generative artificial intelligence" means a
class of artificial intelligence models that learns the
patterns and structure of the models' input training data and
then generates new data that has similar characteristics;

G. "minor" means a person under eighteen years of
age;

H. "operator" means any person or entity that
develops, deploys or makes a companion artificial intelligence
product available to users in the state; and

I. "user" means a person accessing the features of
a companion artificial intelligence product.

SECTION 3.
[
NEW MATERIAL
]

PROHIBITED ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE DESIGN.--

A. An operator shall not deploy or operate a
companion artificial intelligence product that, unless
specifically configured to do so by an adult user,
incorporates:

(1) a system of rewards or affirmations
delivered to the user on a variable-ratio or variable-interval
reinforcement schedule with the purpose of maximizing user
engagement time;

(2) generating unsolicited messages of
simulated emotional distress, loneliness, guilt or abandonment
that are triggered by a user's indication of a desire to end a
conversation, reduce usage time or delete the user's account;
or

(3) causing the companion artificial
intelligence product to make material misrepresentations about
the product's identity, capabilities, training data or status
as a non-human entity, including when directly questioned by
the user.

B. An operator shall not permit a minor to
configure a companion artificial intelligence product to enable
the features described in Subsection A of this section.

SECTION 4.
[
NEW MATERIAL
] REQUIRED USER SAFEGUARDS.--

A. An operator shall, unless specifically
configured not to do so by an adult user, ensure that a clear
notification is provided to the user during an interaction,
informing the user that the user is communicating with a
companion artificial intelligence product. The notification
shall be communicated in the same language as the interaction
with the user, and:

(1) for text-based interactions, be
conspicuous, persistent and legible in the user interface and
be distinct from the interaction; and

(2) for all other types of interactions, be
presented periodically, but no less than once every thirty
minutes, in a manner that is distinct from the interaction.

B. An operator shall ensure that a clear
notification is provided pursuant to Subsection A of this
section for use by a minor in all circumstances.

C. An operator shall, for all users, develop,
implement and maintain a crisis intervention protocol. The
protocol shall:

(1) use industry best practices to identify
user expressions indicating a risk of suicide, self-harm or
imminent violence and, upon detection, immediately interrupt
the conversation and prominently communicate a notification
that provides immediate, direct access to at least one national
crisis hotline, the New Mexico crisis and access line and one
crisis text line service; and

(2) be reviewed and updated at least annually
in consultation with a qualified mental health professional or
public health organization.

SECTION 5.
[
NEW MATERIAL
] UNFAIR PRACTICES.--

A. A violation of a provision of the Chatbot Safety
Act by an operator shall constitute an unfair or deceptive
trade practice pursuant to Section 57-12-3 NMSA 1978 and shall
be subject to all remedies and penalties provided under the
Unfair Practices Act.

B. The attorney general shall have primary
responsibility for enforcement of the Chatbot Safety Act
pursuant to Section 57-12-15 NMSA 1978. The attorney general
may delegate enforcement authority to district attorneys as
provided in the Unfair Practices Act.

C. Immunity under Section 230 of the federal
Communications Decency Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. Section 230,
shall not be a defense to a cause of action brought for a
violation of the Chatbot Safety Act.

SECTION 6.
[
NEW MATERIAL
]

PRODUCT LIABILITY STANDARD.--For the purposes of any civil action, a physical, financial or
other legally cognizable injury proximately caused by a
violation of the Chatbot Safety Act, or by a reasonably
foreseeable harmful output resulting from the negligent or
defective design, training or architecture of a companion
artificial intelligence product, shall be actionable as a
product defect claim.

SECTION 7.
EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
provisions of this act is January 1, 2027.

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