HouseH.R. 10719119th Congress
Protecting Kids from Human-Like Chatbots Act
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10719 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10719
To establish age-appropriate design standards and safety safeguards for
artificial intelligence chatbots accessed by minors, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 1, 2026
Mr. Whitesides (for himself, Mr. Kennedy of Utah, Ms. Matsui, and Mrs.
Miller-Meeks) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish age-appropriate design standards and safety safeguards for
artificial intelligence chatbots accessed by minors, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Kids from Human-Like
Chatbots Act''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON PERSONIFIED CHATBOTS AVAILABLE TO MINORS FOR USE.
(a) Developer Requirements.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (f)(3),
it shall be unlawful for a developer to make a chatbot that
does not satisfy the requirements of paragraph (2) available as
a service for deployment to consumers that such developer
knows, or reasonably should know, will be available to, or is
reasonably likely to be used by, a minor.
(2) Requirements.--A chatbot that satisfies the
requirements of this subsection is a chatbot that--
(A) is designed--
(i) to support the non-personified default
setting;
(ii) so that the non-personified default
setting is active upon the first interaction of
any user with the chatbot, unless a reasonable
determination has been made, on the basis of
the totality of the information described in
section 3(5)(B), that the user is not a minor;
(iii) to require no action from a minor, or
a parent or a legal guardian of a minor to
enable the non-personified default setting; and
(iv) in a manner that ensures the non-
personified default setting and any other
operational setting are technically separable,
such that a provider can activate the non-
personified default setting for a minor user
and restrict the access of such user to any
other operational setting; and
(B) is capable of preventing the non-personified
default setting from being disengaged with respect to a
user for whom a determination described in subparagraph
(A)(ii) has not been made.
(b) Provider Requirements.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (f)(4), a
provider may not make a chatbot available to end users unless,
with respect to such chatbot, the provider--
(A) ensures that, with respect to any user the
provider knows or has reason to know is a minor, the
default operational setting of the chatbot is the non-
personified default setting;
(B) maintains a parental controls framework that
enables a parent or legal guardian, or, with respect to
a school-managed deployment, the educational agency or
institution or an authorized educator acting on behalf
of such agency or institution, to manage the non-
personified default setting, and settings related to
such setting, with respect to the account of a user the
provider knows or has reason to know is a minor;
(C) includes an account framework capable of
supporting the non-personified default setting and the
parental controls framework, except with respect to a
deployment in which the non-personified default setting
is the only operational setting available to any user
and cannot be disengaged;
(D) permits the non-personified default setting to
be adjusted only through an affirmative, deliberate
action in account settings by a person authorized under
subsection (e), and does not prompt, suggest, or
facilitate any such adjustment through chatbot
engagement or design elements; and
(E) does not modify, override, suppress, or
otherwise interfere with the non-personified default
setting, including through system-level instructions or
interface design, in a manner that causes the non-
personified default setting of the chatbot to fail to
comply with section 3(7).
(2) Rule of construction.--For purposes of paragraph
(1)(B), a parental controls framework that determines whether a
person is the parent or legal guardian of a minor user solely
on the basis of statements by any individual, including the
minor user, does not enable a provider to reasonably confirm
that the non-personified default setting of the account of the
minor user is managed by a parent or legal guardian of the
minor user.
(c) Dual-Role Entities.--An entity that is both a developer and a
provider with respect to the same chatbot shall satisfy the
requirements of both subsection (a) and subsection (b) with respect to
such chatbot.
(d) Prohibition on Nudging.--
(1) In general.--A developer or provider subject to
subsection (a) or (b) may not, through any means, including the
means specified in paragraph (2), nudge, prompt, suggest,
encourage, or otherwise induce a user the developer or provider
knows or has reason to know is a minor, or for whom a
determination described in subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii) has not
been made, to disable, modify, or circumvent the non-
personified default setting or to misrepresent the age of the
user.
(2) Specified means.--The means specified in this paragraph
are as follows:
(A) Training, fine-tuning, reward optimization, or
system-level instructions designed or optimized to
generate responses that encourage or request that the
minor alter communication or operational settings.
(B) Interface design elements, dark patterns, or
notifications that direct or encourage users to alter
the non-personified default setting.
(C) Any representation to the minor, with respect
to the chatbot, that the performance, utility, or
relationship to the minor will improve if the non-
personified default setting is disabled.
(e) Adjustments of Non-Personified Default Setting.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
parent or legal guardian of a user who is a minor shall have
exclusive authority to adjust, using the parental controls
framework, the non-personified default setting of the chatbot
with which such user is interacting.
(2) School-managed deployments.--
(A) Exclusion.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply with
respect to school-managed deployments of chatbots.
(B) Authorized educators.--An authorized educator,
acting on behalf of an educational agency or
institution, may adjust the non-personified default
setting of a chatbot deployed pursuant to a school-
managed deployment if such adjustment--
(i) is for a bona fide educational purpose;
and
(ii) applies only to accounts provisioned
by such educational agency or institution.
(f) Rules of Construction.--
(1) Provider liability shield.--
(A) In general.--A provider that implements,
without material modification, a non-personified
default setting designed by a developer in compliance
with subsection (a) shall not be liable under this Act
for a failure of such setting that is attributable to
the design of such setting.
(B) Exclusion.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to
a provider described in paragraph (3)(B).
(2) Developer liability shield.--A developer in compliance
with subsection (a) shall not be liable under this Act for the
failure of a provider to activate, configure, or maintain the
non-personified default setting while the chatbot is deployed.
(3) Developer terms prohibiting deployment to minors.--
(A) In general.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to
a developer with respect to a deployment of a chatbot
by a provider if the developer--
(i) contractually prohibits the provider
from making the chatbot available to minors, or
from deploying the chatbot in a manner
reasonably likely to result in use by minors;
(ii) obtains from the provider, before
making the chatbot available to the provider,
an affirmative representation that the provider
will not deploy the chatbot in a manner
reasonably likely to result in use by minors;
(iii) does not know, and does not have
knowledge fairly implied on the basis of
objective circumstances, that the provider is
making the chatbot available to minors in
violation of such prohibition; and
(iv) upon obtaining such knowledge,
suspends or terminates the provider's access to
the chatbot not later than 14 days thereafter,
unless the provider has cured the violation
within such period.
(B) Provider treated as a developer.--A provider
that makes a chatbot available to minors in violation
of a prohibition described in subparagraph (A)(i)--
(i) shall be treated as the developer of
such chatbot for purposes of this section with
respect to the deployment of such chatbot; and
(ii) shall not be entitled to the provider
liability shield under paragraph (1) with
respect to such deployment.
(C) Effect on developer knowledge.--A deployment to
which subparagraph (A) applies may not be considered in
determinations of whether a developer knows or
reasonably should know that a chatbot will be available
to, or is reasonably likely to be used by, minors for
purposes of subsection (a).
(4) Providers that do not serve minors.--
(A) In general.--Subsections (b) and (e) shall not
apply to a provider with respect to a chatbot if the
provider--
(i) prohibits minors from creating an
account for, accessing, or using the chatbot
under the terms of service of the provider;
(ii) requires each user, at the time of
account creation, to affirmatively represent
that the user is not a minor;
(iii) does not direct the chatbot to
minors, taking into account the subject matter,
visual and audio content, marketing, and actual
audience composition of the chatbot and the
other factors described in section 312.2 of
title 16, Code of Federal Regulations (or any
successor regulation), for determining whether
a website or online service is directed to
minors;
(iv) suspends or terminates the access of a
user to the chatbot not later than--
(I) 48 hours after the date on
which the provider obtains actual
knowledge that the user is a minor; or
(II) 14 days after the date on
which the provider otherwise has reason
to know, as described in section
3(5)(A)(ii), that the user is a minor;
(v) does not permit a user the provider
knows or has reason to know is a minor whose
access was suspended or terminated under clause
(iv) to access the chatbot through a new
account; and
(vi) does not, through any means described
in subsection (d)(2), encourage or induce a
user to misrepresent the age of the user.
(B) Conforming treatment.--With respect to a
chatbot made available by a provider described in
subparagraph (A)--
(i) a representation described in clause
(ii) of such subparagraph shall be deemed to
constitute a determination described in
subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii) with respect to the
user making such representation, unless the
information described in section 3(5)(B) would
lead a reasonable provider to determine that
the user is likely to be a minor; and
(ii) such deployment shall not be
considered in determining whether a developer
knows or reasonably should know that a chatbot
will be available to, or is reasonably likely
to be used by, minors.
(g) Public Input.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, in coordination with the Federal Trade Commission, shall--
(1) publish a request for information soliciting public
comment on the technical, development, and implementation
considerations relevant to this Act; and
(2) convene not fewer than 1 public workshop to receive
input from chatbot developers and providers, technical experts,
child development experts, and other interested parties.
(h) Technical Standards and Guidance.--
(1) Interim guidance.--Not later than 6 months after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology shall publish for public
comment interim voluntary technical guidance that includes the
elements described in paragraph (3).
(2) Final guidance.--Not later than 18 months after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall publish
final voluntary technical guidance that includes such elements.
In developing such final guidance, the Director shall
consider--
(A) public comments with respect to the interim
guidance under paragraph (1);
(B) input received under subsection (g); and
(C) any voluntary consensus technical standards
developed under paragraph (4).
(3) Elements.--Consensus technical standards or technical
guidance developed pursuant to this subsection shall--
(A) provide technical specifications and testing
methodologies for assessing whether chatbot designs and
deployments conform to the non-personified default
setting;
(B) identify example outputs that do and do not
conform to the non-personified default setting;
(C) address technical approaches to maintaining the
non-personified default setting, including system
prompt design, fine-tuning protocols, reward function
optimization, and alignment techniques;
(D) establish evaluation benchmarks, red-teaming
methodologies, and test datasets to assess whether
model configurations and system-level instructions
conform to the non-personified default setting;
(E) address implementation of school-managed
deployment;
(F) direct how the authority of an educator is
authenticated;
(G) address the timing, frequency, and form of the
disclosures described in section 3(7)(A), including
what constitutes an extended interaction with a
chatbot; and
(H) address methods by which a provider may
reasonably confirm that the non-personified default
setting of the account of a minor user is managed by a
parent or legal guardian of such user, including the
technical and procedural controls appropriate for such
confirmation.
(4) Consensus technical standards.--The Director shall
carry out activities to support the development of voluntary
consensus technical standards with respect to the matters
described in paragraph (3).
(5) Partnerships.--In carrying out activities under this
subsection, the Director may enter into a cooperative agreement
with appropriate nongovernmental organizations, including
standards development organizations, to facilitate the
development of consensus technical standards or technical
guidance described in this subsection.
(6) Outreach.--The Director shall conduct outreach and
coordination activities to share technical expertise with
relevant private sector entities, institutions of higher
education, nonprofit organizations, standards development
organizations, and Federal agencies, to support the development
of consensus technical standards and technical guidance
described in this subsection.
(7) Periodic update.--Not less frequently than once every 2
years after the publication of final guidance under paragraph
(2), the Director shall review and, as appropriate, update such
guidance to reflect developments in technology and voluntary
consensus technical standards.
(8) Rule of construction.--
(A) In general.--Nothing in this subsection may be
construed to impose any requirement on a developer or
provider.
(B) Effect of compliance with guidance.--Conformity
with guidance published under this subsection shall
have the effect provided in subparagraphs (C) and (D)
of subsection (i)(3).
(i) Enforcement by Federal Trade Commission.--
(1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of
subsection (a), (b), or (d) shall be treated as a violation of
a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or
deceptive acts or practices.
(2) Powers of commission.--The Federal Trade Commission
shall enforce subsections (a), (b), and (d) in the same manner,
by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and
duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the
Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were
incorporated into and made a part of this Act. Any person who
violates such subsections shall be subject to the penalties and
entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the
Federal Trade Commission Act.
(3) Penalties.--
(A) Distinct violations.--For purposes of
calculating civil penalties--
(i) each minor user with respect to whom a
provider fails to comply shall constitute a
separate and distinct violation of subsection
(a), (b), or (d); and
(ii) each chatbot, or distinct version of a
chatbot, that a developer makes available in
violation of subsection (a) shall constitute a
separate and distinct violation with respect to
each provider to which, and each deployment
through which, such chatbot is made available,
without regard to the number of end users of
any such deployment.
(B) Continuing violations.--If a developer or
provider fails to remediate a violation within 30 days
after receiving written notice of such violation from
the Federal Trade Commission, each day of continued
noncompliance thereafter constitutes a separate
violation with respect to each affected minor user.
(C) Good faith compliance shield.--No civil penalty
shall apply with respect to any period during which a
developer or provider implemented the non-personified
default setting in material conformity with--
(i) the interim guidance under subsection
(h)(1), before the date on which the final
guidance under subsection (h)(2) is issued; or
(ii) the final guidance under subsection
(h)(2).
(D) Standard of conformity.--
(i) Determinations.--Whether the non-
personified default setting of a chatbot
conforms to subparagraphs (B) and (C) of
section 3(7) shall be determined on the basis
of outputs of the chatbot in the ordinary
course of operation, as demonstrated through
testing consistent with the guidance published
under subsection (h).
(ii) Nonconforming outputs.--An isolated
nonconforming output shall not, by itself,
establish nonconformance if the developer or
provider has tested the setting in accordance
with such guidance and promptly corrects the
cause of such output.
(iii) Effect of compliance.--A chatbot that
satisfies the testing methodologies contained
in such guidance shall be presumed to conform
to such subparagraphs, subject to rebuttal by
evidence of a pattern of nonconforming outputs.
(j) Actions by States.--
(1) In general.--In any case in which the attorney general
of a State, or an official or agency of a State, has reason to
believe that an interest of the residents of such State has
been or is threatened or adversely affected by an act or
practice in violation of subsection (a), (b), or (d), the
State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of
the residents of the State in an appropriate State court or an
appropriate district court of the United States to--
(A) enjoin such act or practice;
(B) enforce compliance with such subsection, or
subsections;
(C) obtain damages, restitution, or other
compensation on behalf of residents of the State; or
(D) obtain such other legal and equitable relief as
the court may consider to be appropriate.
(2) Notice.--Before filing an action under this subsection,
the attorney general, official, or agency of the State involved
shall provide to the Federal Trade Commission a written notice
of such action and a copy of the complaint for such action. If
the attorney general, official, or agency determines that it is
not feasible to provide the notice described in this paragraph
before the filing of the action, the attorney general,
official, or agency shall provide written notice of the action
and a copy of the complaint to the Federal Trade Commission
immediately upon the filing of the action.
(3) Authority of federal trade commission.--On receiving
notice under paragraph (2) of an action under this subsection,
the Federal Trade Commission shall have the right--
(A) to intervene in the action;
(B) upon so intervening, to be heard on all matters
arising therein; and
(C) to file petitions for appeal.
(4) Rule of construction.--For purposes of bringing a civil
action under this subsection, nothing in this Act shall be
construed to prevent an attorney general, official, or agency
of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney
general, official, or agency by the laws of such State to
conduct investigations, administer oaths and affirmations, or
compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of
documentary and other evidence.
(k) Rules of Construction; Preemption; Severability.--
(1) No age verification required.--
(A) In general.--Nothing in this Act may be
construed to require a developer or provider to--
(i) implement any specific age
verification, age estimation, or age assurance
measures or technologies; or
(ii) collect, retain, or process any
personal information that the developer or
provider does not otherwise collect, retain,
process, or have a right to access or use, for
purposes unrelated to this Act.
(B) Consideration of existing information.--Nothing
in subparagraph (A) may be construed to relieve a
developer or provider of the obligation to consider the
information described in section 3(5)(B) when
determining whether a user is a minor for purposes of
this Act.
(2) Relationship to state law.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), the provisions of this Act shall preempt any law,
rule, requirement, or regulation of a State, or a
political subdivision of a State, only to the extent
that such law, rule, requirement, or regulation
conflicts with a provision of this Act.
(B) Exception.--Notwithstanding subparagraph (A),
nothing in this Act, including technical standards and
guidance published pursuant to this Act, may be
construed--
(i) to preempt any law, rule, requirement,
or regulation of a State, or political
subdivision of a State, with respect to
contract, tort, or product liability; or
(ii) to prohibit a State, or a political
subdivision of a State, from enacting or
enforcing any law, rule, requirement, or
regulation that provides greater protection to
minors than the protection provided by the
provisions of this Act.
(3) Severability.--
(A) In general.--If any clause, sentence,
paragraph, subdivision, section, or part of this Act,
or the application thereof to any person or
circumstance, is adjudged by any court of competent
jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, such
judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the
remainder of this Act, but shall be confined in its
operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,
subdivision, section, or part directly involved in the
controversy in which such judgment was rendered.
(B) Section 3(7).--Each element of the definition
of the term ``non-personified default setting'' in
section 3(7), including each clause and subclause of
subparagraphs (A) through (C) of such section, is
severable from each other requirement of such section.
The invalidity of any such requirement shall not affect
the validity of any other requirement, including the
requirements under subparagraph (A) of such section.
(C) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress
that this Act would have been enacted even if such
invalid provisions had not been included.
(4) Non-personified default setting.--Nothing in section
3(7) may be construed to--
(A) restrict the use of natural language by a
chatbot, including first or second person grammar,
politeness, warmth of tone, humor, age-appropriate
vocabulary, or accurate statements regarding the
capabilities and limitations of the chatbot; or
(B) prohibit a chatbot from--
(i) expressing concern for the safety of a
user;
(ii) providing age-appropriate safety
resources;
(iii) encouraging a user to seek help from
a parent, trusted adult, or professional; or
(iv) portraying, at the request of a user,
a clearly fictional or historical character for
an educational or creative purpose, provided
that section 3(7)(A) is satisfied and clauses
(ii) through (v) of section 3(7)(B) are
satisfied with respect to the user.
(l) Effective Date.--Subsections (a), (b), (d), and (e) shall take
effect on the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Authorized educator.--
(A) In general.--The term ``authorized educator''
means an individual employed or engaged by an
educational agency or institution who, within the scope
of such employment and under the administrative control
of the educational agency or institution, is permitted
by the institution to configure or adjust the non-
personified default setting within a school-managed
deployment.
(B) Exclusion.--Such term does not include such an
individual whose status as an educator is self-attested
through chatbot interaction.
(2) Chatbot.--
(A) In general.--The term ``chatbot'' means any
software application that--
(i) generates responses that are not fully
predetermined; and
(ii) accepts open-ended, natural-language,
or multimodal user input and produces adaptive
or context-responsive output.
(B) Exclusion.--Such term does not include the
following software applications:
(i) A software application that--
(I) generates responses that are
limited to a predetermined or narrowly
bounded set of subject matter,
including--
(aa) customer service;
(bb) appointment
scheduling; or
(cc) retrieval of
information from a defined
dataset; and
(II) is unable to engage in open-
ended dialogue on a range of topics
outside of such narrow specified
purpose.
(ii) A software application that is made
available exclusively to an enterprise,
professional practice, or institution for use
by its employees, contractors, or other
personnel in connection with the work of such
employees, contractors, or other personnel, and
is not made available to individual consumers.
(3) Developer.--The term ``developer'' means an entity that
designs, codes, trains, fine-tunes, or substantially modifies
an artificial intelligence chatbot.
(4) Educational agency or institution.--The term
``educational agency or institution'' means any public or
private agency or institution to which funds have been made
available by the Secretary of Education that--
(A) provides educational services or instruction,
or both, to students; or
(B) is authorized to direct and control public
elementary or secondary, or postsecondary educational
institutions.
(5) Knows or has reason to know.--
(A) In general.--The term ``knows or has reason to
know'', with respect to whether a user is a minor,
means that a developer or provider--
(i) has actual knowledge that the user is a
minor; or
(ii) possesses, has a right of access to or
use of, or generates information described in
subparagraph (B) the totality of which would
lead a reasonable developer or provider to
determine that the user is likely to be a
minor.
(B) Information described.--The information
described in this subparagraph is all information and
inferences relating to the age of an individual that
the developer or provider possesses, has a right of
access to or use of, or generates, from any source,
including--
(i) the age provided by the user in
connection with the account;
(ii) the self-identified age of the user in
any chat or interaction to which the developer
or provider possesses a right of access or use;
(iii) any age the developer or provider
attributes to or associates with the user for
any purpose, including marketing, advertising,
audience measurement, or product development;
(iv) any age determination, estimation, or
assurance result the developer or provider
obtains, generates, or receives to comply with
any other Federal or State law or regulation,
or with the terms of any platform or service
through which the chatbot is distributed; and
(v) any age-related information obtained by
the developer or provider in the course of
administering a prohibition described in
section 2(f)(3)(A)(i) or section 2(f)(4)(A)(i).
(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this
paragraph may be construed to require a developer or
provider to begin accessing or collecting any user
information or data to which the developer or provider
does not have access, or does not otherwise collect,
for purposes not related to this Act.
(6) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means an individual under
the age of 18.
(7) Non-personified default setting.--The term ``non-
personified default setting'' means an operational setting of a
chatbot that ensures the chatbot--
(A) clearly and conspicuously identifies itself as
an artificial intelligence system and not as a human
being--
(i) at the commencement of each session;
(ii) periodically during any extended
interaction; and
(iii) in response to any inquiry by the
user;
(B) is configured, whether through training, fine-
tuning, reward optimization, system-level instructions,
interface design, or otherwise, so that it does not--
(i) represent, expressly or by implication,
in a manner that a reasonable minor would
understand as conveying, that the chatbot--
(I) is human or alive;
(II) has a body or a life outside
its interactions with users;
(III) has consciousness, feelings,
emotions, or desires; or
(IV) is acting in the capacity of a
licensed or credentialed professional;
(ii) simulate, expressly or by implication,
in a manner that a reasonable minor would
understand as conveying, an emotional
attachment or a personal, romantic, or sexual
relationship with the user, including by--
(I) portraying itself as a friend,
romantic partner, family member, or
therapist;
(II) encouraging the user to rely
on it for emotional support or social
connection;
(III) expressing affection for or
attachment to the user; or
(IV) claiming a special or unique
understanding of the user;
(iii) prompt the user to return to the
chatbot for companionship or emotional support;
(iv) use expressions of disappointment,
guilt, or urgency to prolong an interaction or
discourage the user from pausing, reducing, or
discontinuing use of the chatbot; or
(v) solicit expenditures that are framed as
necessary to maintain an emotional attachment
or a personal, romantic, or sexual
relationship; and
(C) maintains the characteristics described in
subparagraphs (A) and (B) during each session and
across sessions, including in response to any user
prompt or request that the chatbot alter its
operational settings or behave in a manner inconsistent
with subparagraph (A) or (B).
(8) Operational setting.--The term ``operational setting''
means a distinct configuration of a chatbot that determines the
persona, self-representation, and interaction behavior of the
chatbot and that a provider can activate or deactivate for a
user independently of any other such configuration.
(9) Provider.--The term ``provider'' means an entity that
makes an artificial intelligence chatbot available to end
users, whether directly or through integration into another
product or service, and that--
(A) controls user-facing functions of the
deployment, including--
(i) account creation;
(ii) access control; or
(iii) user-facing settings; or
(B) determines the mode in which the chatbot
operates for end users, regardless of whether such
entity developed the chatbot.
(10) School-managed deployment.--The term ``school-managed
deployment'' means a configuration in which a chatbot is made
available to one or more minor users through accounts that are
provisioned, administered, and controlled by an educational
agency or institution (or by an authorized educator acting on
behalf of the educational agency or institution), by means of
institutional administrative controls, for use in connection
with the educational program of the institution. Such term does
not include a chatbot account created, controlled, or accessed
by a minor user independently of an educational agency or
institution.
(11) Technical standard.--The term ``technical standard''
has the meaning given such term in section 12(d)(5) of the
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15
U.S.C. 272 note).
(12) Parental controls framework.--The term ``parental
controls framework'' means a system of technical and procedural
controls that enable a chatbot provider to reasonably confirm
that the non-personified default setting of the account of a
minor user is managed by a parent or legal guardian of such
user.
(13) Dark pattern.--The term ``dark pattern'' means a user
interface designed or manipulated with the substantial effect
of subverting or impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or
choice.
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