New York Moves to Keep AI Companions Away From Minors

New York lawmakers are not waiting to see where this trend leads.

A new state law prohibits companies from offering AI companion chatbots to anyone younger than 18. Companies that violate the law could face fines of up to $25,000 for each violation. The measure makes New York one of the first states to place an age restriction on AI companions. It builds on another state law regulating AI companion models that took effect in November 2025.

Students Are Already Confiding in Chatbots

Lawmakers are not responding to a problem that might happen someday. It is already happening inside schools. Administrators have discovered that some students are telling chatbots things that once might have been shared with a counselor, teacher, parent, or trusted friend. One school leader said she was especially troubled to learn that students were discussing mental health struggles with AI.

Think about that for a moment. A young person may be carrying something painful, but instead of walking into a counselor’s office, that teen may be opening an app.

Why AI Can Feel So Comforting to a Teenager

Dr. Michael Salas, a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor at Vantage Point Counseling, says it is not difficult to understand the appeal. AI responds immediately, even in the middle of the night. It does not look disappointed, become impatient, or tell a teenager to calm down. It never rolls its eyes or says someone is being dramatic.

For a teen who already feels embarrassed, lonely, or misunderstood, that constant attention can feel like a safe place to land.

What a Perfect AI Friend Cannot Provide

That comfort comes with a cost. Teenagers do not only need a place where they can say whatever they want. They also need to experience what it feels like to be truly known by another person.

A parent or friend may hear the crack in a teen’s voice. A counselor may notice a change in behavior or recognize that something is more serious than it first appears. A chatbot can produce a caring response, but it cannot understand years of family history, read the expression on someone’s face, or reliably tell the difference between a terrible day and a mental health emergency.

Young People Are Looking for Emotional Guidance Online

AI companions are part of a much larger change in how younger people look for advice. Virlo.ai analyzed 2,600 relationship videos on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Together, those videos had 1.4 billion views. Much of the content focused on emotional maturity, communication problems, relationship warning signs, and therapy style advice.

Young people are not only looking for entertainment. They are searching for help understanding their emotions and relationships.

When AI companions are added to that picture, the concern becomes clearer. Teenagers are growing up with emotional advice that is immediate, searchable, and sometimes automated. They may have access to endless answers before they have much experience asking a real person for help.

How Parents Can Start the Conversation

Discovering that your teenager has been sharing personal thoughts with a chatbot could be frightening. The natural reaction may be to panic, demand answers, or take the phone away.

Dr. Salas says that approach can cause a teenager to shut down.

He recommends leading with curiosity instead of criticism. Rather than asking, “Why are you doing this?” a parent might ask, “What does this chatbot give you that feels difficult to get from people right now?”

That question does not excuse risky behavior. It gives your child room to explain what is missing and may open the door to a conversation you both need to have.

Warning Signs Parents Should Watch For

Occasional AI use is different from emotional dependence. Parents should pay attention when a chatbot begins replacing friendships, family time, or conversations with trusted adults.

Other warning signs include increasing secrecy, distress when access to the chatbot is limited, or a growing belief that AI is the only place where the teen feels understood.

The biggest concern may be when AI becomes the first place a teenager turns with serious issues involving safety, sex, self harm, trauma, or a major life decision. Those conversations need the attention and judgment of a trusted adult.

The Greatest Risk May Be Relationships Without Friction

New York’s law may change what technology companies are allowed to offer minors. It cannot control every conversation happening quietly on a phone after a bedroom door closes.

AI is unlikely to replace human friendship completely. The deeper concern is that young people could begin preferring relationships that never interrupt, disagree, become frustrated, or hold them accountable.

Real relationships can be awkward and uncomfortable. People misunderstand one another. They say the wrong thing. They disagree, apologize, and try again.

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That friction is not proof that a relationship has failed. It is often how we learn empathy, patience, forgiveness, and trust. Those imperfect moments may be exactly what teenagers need most and exactly what is worth protecting.