HB 2006 — An Act providing for safety regarding artificial intelligence in companionship applications; and imposing a penalty.

PRINTER'S NO.    2560

                   THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                          HOUSE BILL
                          No. 2006
                                                 Session of
                                                   2025

     INTRODUCED BY SHUSTERMAN, SANCHEZ, K.HARRIS, SMITH-WADE-EL,
        WAXMAN AND PROBST, OCTOBER 31, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY,
        NOVEMBER 6, 2025


                                      AN ACT
 1   Providing for safety regarding artificial intelligence in
 2      companionship applications; and imposing a penalty.
 3      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 4   hereby enacts as follows:
 5   Section 1.   Short title.
 6      This act shall be known and may be cited as the Artificial
 7   Intelligence in Companionship Applications Safety Act.
 8   Section 2.   Definitions.
 9      The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
10   have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
11   context clearly indicates otherwise:
12      "AI companion."
13          (1)   A system that:
14                (i)    uses artificial intelligence and generative
15          artificial intelligence to simulate a human or humanlike
16          relationship with emotional recognition algorithms; and
17                (ii)    interacts with a user by compiling previous
 1          information or discussions from user sessions to:
 2                     (A)   engage with the user's preferences;
 3                     (B)   personalize interaction based on user
 4                 preferences;
 5                     (C)   ask emotion-based questions unprompted in
 6                 order to illicit feelings; and
 7                     (D)   maintain conversations to the user feelings
 8                 or personal matters.
 9          (2)    The term does not include AI used for customer
10      service, research, technical assistance or systems for
11      employee productivity in the workplace.
12      "AI model."    A component of an informational system program
13   that uses artificial intelligence for computational techniques
14   to produce outputs from a given set of outputs.
15      "Artificial intelligence" or "AI."     A machine-based system
16   that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make
17   predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or
18   virtual environments, including the ability to:
19          (1)    perceive real and virtual environments;
20          (2)    abstract perceptions made under paragraph (1) into
21      AI models through analysis in an automated manner; and
22          (3)    use AI model inference to formulate options for
23      information or action based on outcomes under paragraphs (1)
24      and (2).
25      "Emotional recognition algorithms."     Artificial intelligence
26   that detects and reacts to an individual user's emotions from
27   collected data like text, voice audio or video.
28      "Generative artificial intelligence."       The class of AI models
29   that emulate the structure and characteristics of input data in
30   order to generate derived synthetic content.

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 1      "Operator."     Any individual, association, business, member or
 2   subsidiary who operates for or provides an AI companion to a
 3   user.
 4      "Self-harm."     Intentional self-injury.
 5      "Suicidal ideation."     A feeling, thought or consideration
 6   with the preoccupation of the idea of death or suicide.
 7      "Synthetic content."     Information, such as images, videos,
 8   audio clips or text, that have been significantly modified or
 9   generated by algorithms, including by artificial intelligence.
10      "User."     An individual who:
11            (1)   uses an AI companion for personal use within this
12      Commonwealth; and
13            (2)   is not an operator.
14   Section 3.     Artificial intelligence companion.
15      (a)   Certain protocols required.--It shall be unlawful for an
16   operator to provide an AI companion to a user unless the AI
17   companion contains protocols that:
18            (1)   identify suicidal ideation or expressions of self-
19      harm;
20            (2)   decline to assist a user with a suicide attempt,
21      methods or improvement of methods; and
22            (3)   refer the user to a crisis center if suicidal
23      ideation or expressions of self-harm are recognized.
24      (b)   Referral to crisis center.--The referral required under
25   subsection (a)(3) shall include:
26            (1)   crisis service contact information, including the
27      988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or a subsequent iteration;
28            (2)   the closest behavioral health crisis centers to the
29      user; or
30            (3)   other appropriate crisis services.

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 1      (c)   Prohibition.--An AI companion may not claim, imply or
 2   advertise that the AI companion is a licensed emotional support
 3   professional or mental health professional or replaces services
 4   rendered by a licensed mental health professional.
 5   Section 4.     Artificial intelligence companion requirements.
 6      An operator shall:
 7            (1)   Publish details on the protocol on the operator's
 8      Internet website.
 9            (2)   At the beginning of a session with an AI companion
10      and once every three hours during the session, provide a
11      notification to the user stating, either verbally or in
12      writing, that the user is communicating with an AI companion
13      and not a human.
14   Section 5.     Violations and penalty.
15      A user may file a complaint with the Attorney General
16   alleging that an operator has violated this act, to which the
17   following shall apply:
18            (1)   The Attorney General, if provided satisfactory
19      evidence that an operator has, or intends to, violate this
20      act, can bring an action in the name and on behalf of the
21      people of this Commonwealth against the operator.
22            (2)   An operator in violation of this act shall be
23      subject to:
24                  (i)    a civil penalty of no more than $15,000 per day
25            per violation; and
26                  (ii)   additional remedies that the court deems
27            appropriate.
28            (3)   The Attorney General may initiate, in Commonwealth
29      Court or the court of common pleas of the county in which the
30      individual or entity resides, an action in equity for an

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1      injunction to restrain a violation of this act, to which the
2      following shall apply:
3                (i)    The injunction may be issued by a court without
4          requiring proof that an individual has been injured or
5          experienced harm.
6                (ii)   The respondent shall comply with the injunction
7          within five days.
8   Section 6.   Effective date.
9      This act shall take effect in 60 days.




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