Youth AI Privacy Act

United StatesS.4199 (119th)Updated August 5, 2026

25%of the way to law
Bad for your rightsIn progress
  1. Introduced
  2. Passed Senate
  3. Passed House
  4. Became Law

Reported by committee

Forces AI chatbot makers to treat any user they think is a minor differently. The EFF warns this pushes services toward age checks anyway.

Latest update

Reported by committee

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The bill

Read the full billOfficial bill record

Key facts

Where
United States
Bill number
S.4199 (119th)
Status
In progress
Introduced
March 25, 2026
Threat
High
Last update
August 5, 2026

Topics

Age Verification

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What it does

S.4199 would require AI chatbot companies to add "safe design features" on any account they believe belongs to a minor: telling users they are talking to a machine at the start of each session and every 30 minutes, blocking data use beyond the current session, banning features judged addictive (usage rewards, push notifications, badges, unprompted messages, human-like typing indicators), limiting ads, and barring the use of these users' data to train AI. The FTC and state attorneys general would enforce it.

What’s at stake

The bill says it does not require age verification or age gating. But to decide who is a minor, services will likely check ages anyway, which is the same privacy and data-security problem in a new place. The EFF also warns that mandating how these tools are designed is a way of regulating speech, which raises First Amendment concerns.

Our take

Another "protect the kids" bill that ends up pressuring platforms to work out everyone's age. To know who is a minor, you screen everyone. The bill says it needs no age verification, but that is the effect, and it adds new limits on what these tools can say to young users.

Timeline

  1. Reported by committeeLatest

  2. Introduced

  3. Referred to committee

The record

Sponsor

Edward Markey (D-MA)

Committee

Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

Last updated August 5, 2026