Disruption

Lawmakers target mental health chatbots

Bills were introduced in about half the states.

Austin Jenkins

06:00 AM, Feb 19, 2026

The OpenAI logo is displayed on a cell phone with an image on a computer monitor generated by ChatGPT’s Dall-E text-to-image model, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

Lawmakers in nearly two dozen states are proposing legislation this year to establish rules of the road for mental health chatbots.

There are bills that would ban chatbots that present themselves as licensed professionals; aim to protect kids; and that would allow mental health chatbots with restrictions.

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