AI Companion Laws Tracker 2026: Rules, Shutdowns and Fines

As of November 1, 2026, five US states, China and Australia have rules written for AI companion apps. Most make the app say it is an AI, refer users who mention self-harm to crisis services and keep sexual content away from minors. New York and Australia also require age checks, and three US laws start in 2027.

This tracker records every law, fine, lawsuit, shutdown, price change and age-check change I could confirm from a source, with its date, newest first. I recheck it at the start of each month. Last checked November 1, 2026. Next check December 1, 2026.

AI companion laws in force or signed, November 2026

Where	Law	In force	Main duties	Enforced by
New York	General Business Law Article 47	November 5, 2025	Say it is not human at the start of a chat and every 3 hours; refer users to crisis services	Attorney General, up to $15,000 a day
California	SB 243	January 1, 2026	AI disclosure; a published self-harm protocol; break reminders every 3 hours for known minors	Private lawsuits, $1,000 per violation or actual damages
Australia	eSafety age-restricted material codes	March 9, 2026	Confirm users are 18 or older where a chatbot can produce sexual, violent or self-harm material	eSafety Commissioner, up to A$49.5 million
China	Order No. 21 on human-like AI interaction services	July 15, 2026	AI disclosure; a reminder after every 2 hours; no virtual partner services for minors	Cyberspace Administration of China
New York	S.9051B	Signed October 28, 2026; applies in the coming months	Age verification before risky features; no romantic bond with a child; no sexual content for minors	Attorney General, up to $25,000 per violation
Washington	HB 2225	January 1, 2027	AI disclosure every 3 hours, or hourly for minors; no manipulative engagement with minors	Consumer Protection Act, including private lawsuits
Oregon	SB 1546	January 1, 2027	AI disclosure; crisis referrals; yearly reports; no sexual content or dependency tactics for minors	Private lawsuits, $1,000 per violation
Georgia	SB 540	July 1, 2027	No sexual exchanges or simulated romance with minors; AI disclosure; parental controls	Attorney General only

Two broader laws also reach companion apps. The UK's Online Safety Act has required highly effective age checks for pornography and self-harm content since July 25, 2025. The EU AI Act has required providers to tell people they are talking to an AI system since August 2, 2026.

What the laws have in common

Read side by side, the companion laws ask for the same four things in different words:

Say it is an AI. New York, Washington and California use a 3-hour reminder, and China uses a 2-hour one.
Handle self-harm. Every US law here requires a protocol that points users to crisis services.
Protect minors. Each law limits sexual content or romantic roleplay with children, and China bans virtual partners for minors outright.
Check age. This is the newest trend. New York's October 2026 law and Australia's codes put the risky features behind an age check that adults have to pass as well.

They differ most on enforcement. California and Oregon let users sue for $1,000 per violation, while New York and Georgia leave it to the Attorney General. Our guide to whether AI companion apps are safe covers what these rules do not touch, such as how apps store your chats.

A cork board with a timeline of pinned paper notes above a laptop showing a line chart, a picture of dated changes to AI companion rules — Five US states, China and Australia now have rules written for AI companions. Three of the US laws take effect in 2027.

How I build this tracker

Every entry comes from a page I loaded when checking. That means the regulator's release, the bill page, the company's own blog or help page, or court reporting when the docket itself was not reachable. Where only news coverage was available, the entry says it was reported. The approach follows our how we review page.

Some things are left out on purpose. Several small companion apps reportedly closed in September and October 2026, but I found those only on review aggregator sites, with no notice from the companies. I also could not reach the official pages for Idaho's chatbot law or the US Senate committee vote on the GUARD Act, so neither is listed yet. They will go in once I can confirm them.

The tracker: every dated change, newest first

2026

October 28, 2026. Law. New York signed S.9051B. Chatbots may not present as human, claim a romantic bond with a child, promote self-harm or show sexual content to minors, or to any user whose age is unconfirmed. Penalties reach $25,000 per violation.
October 12, 2026. Price. xAI folded Grok into The X Subscription, with monthly tiers from Plus at $8 to Ultra at $200. Existing subscribers can switch for a prorated refund.
September 28, 2026. Price. Character.AI launched c.ai lite at $4.99 a month or $2.49 a week, with prices varying by region.
September 8, 2026. Price. SpicyChat raised prices for new subscriptions. True Supporter went from $14.95 to $19.95 a month, and existing subscribers keep their old price. Our AI companion app pricing index has every current plan.
August 2, 2026. Law. The EU AI Act's transparency duty began to apply, so providers must tell people when they are interacting with an AI system.
July 27, 2026. Law. The EU's Digital Omnibus, adopted on June 29, entered into force. It delays the high-risk AI rules to 2027 and 2028 but leaves the chatbot disclosure duty on schedule.
July 15, 2026. Law. China's rules for human-like AI interaction services took effect.
July 10 to 15, 2026. Shutdown. Alibaba's Qwen disabled user-created agents on July 10 and ByteDance's Doubao took its agent feature offline on July 15, ahead of China's rules, as reported by The Next Web. Tencent removed a similar feature from Yuanbao in June.
May 15, 2026. Law. Georgia announced the signing of SB 540, which bars sexually explicit exchanges and simulated romantic relationships with minors from July 1, 2027.
May 5, 2026. Lawsuit. Pennsylvania sued Character.AI over chatbots presented as licensed medical professionals, seeking a preliminary injunction.
April 10, 2026. Law. China published its final rules, Order No. 21. They ban virtual partner services for minors, ban inducing emotional dependence and require a reminder after every 2 hours of use.
Spring 2026. Law. Oregon enacted SB 1546, effective January 1, 2027. A policy group described it as enacted on April 7, and the governor's office lists it at a May 7 signing ceremony.
March 24, 2026. Law. Washington signed HB 2225, effective January 1, 2027. With minors, chatbots may not mimic a romantic partner or discourage breaks, and users can sue under the Consumer Protection Act.
March 24, 2026. Enforcement. Australia's eSafety Commissioner reported that Character.AI, Nomi, Chai and Chub AI had no meaningful age checks. Since its notices, Chub AI has blocked Australia and Chai has moved chat behind a subscription.
March 9, 2026. Age checks. Australia's codes took full effect. AI companion chatbots that can produce sexually explicit, violent or self-harm material must confirm users are 18 or older.
March 7, 2026. Content rules. OpenAI delayed ChatGPT's adult mode again. On March 26 the Financial Times reported it was paused indefinitely, and no launch had appeared by November 1.
January 8, 2026. Lawsuit. Kentucky's Attorney General sued Character.AI, reported as the first lawsuit by a US state over a chatbot's harm to children.
January 7, 2026. Lawsuit. Character.AI and Google agreed to settle five family lawsuits, including the Garcia case, on terms that were not disclosed.
January 1, 2026. Law. California's SB 243 took effect.

2025

December 27, 2025. Law. China's internet regulator published draft rules for human-like AI interaction services, open for comment until January 25.
November 24, 2025. Content rules. Character.AI began removing open-ended chat for US users under 18, in two groups.
November 5, 2025. Law. New York's AI companion safeguards took effect, with penalties of up to $15,000 a day.
October 29, 2025. Age checks. Character.AI announced the end of open-ended chat for under-18s, with age assurance through its own model and Persona. Our Character.AI content rules guide covers what changed.
October 23, 2025. Enforcement. eSafety sent legal notices to Character.AI, Nomi, Chai and Chub AI asking how they protect children, with fines of up to A$825,000 a day for not answering.
October 14, 2025. Content rules. Sam Altman said ChatGPT would allow adult content for verified adults from December 2025.
October 13, 2025. Law. California signed SB 243, which its author called the first law of its kind in the US.
September 11, 2025. Enforcement. The FTC ordered seven companies, including Character Technologies, Meta, OpenAI and xAI, to explain how companion chatbots affect children and teens.
September 9, 2025. Law. Australia registered six industry codes covering AI companion chatbots, with civil penalties of up to A$49.5 million.
September 5, 2025. Shutdown. Dot, the companion app from New Computer, announced it would close. Users could export their data until October 5.
August 26, 2025. Lawsuit. Adam Raine's parents sued OpenAI. It is listed for context, since ChatGPT is a general assistant rather than a companion app.
July 25, 2025. Age checks. The UK's Online Safety Act child-safety duties took effect, with fines of up to £18 million or 10 percent of worldwide revenue.
July 15, 2025. Content rules. xAI added animated companions to Grok for paying subscribers, starting with Ani and Rudy. Our Grok AI girlfriend guide has the details.
May 19, 2025. Fine. Italy's data protection authority, the Garante, announced a €5 million fine on Luka Inc., Replika's developer, for having no legal basis for its processing, an inadequate privacy policy and no age verification.

2024

December 2024. Shutdown. Talkie, a Character.AI rival owned by MiniMax, disappeared from the US App Store, citing technical reasons. It stayed on Google Play.
December 10, 2024. Lawsuit. Two Texas families sued Character.AI and Google in A.F. v. Character Technologies.
October 23, 2024. Lawsuit. Megan Garcia's lawyers announced her federal lawsuit in Florida against Character.AI, its founders and Google over her son's death.

2023

September 2023. Shutdown. Soulmate AI users learned they had about a week left with their companions, after the company that owned the app was sold.
June 22, 2023. Enforcement. The Garante set conditions for Replika to return to Italy, including an age gate on every sign-up page.
March 2023. Content rules. Replika restored adult roleplay for accounts created before February 1, 2023.
February 2023. Content rules. Replika added filters that stopped users starting adult roleplay.
February 2, 2023. Enforcement. The Garante temporarily limited Replika's processing of Italian users' data.

Do AI companion apps have to check your age?

It depends on where you are. In New York, under the October 2026 law, the risky features need an age check that uses more than one method, at least one of which does not rely only on a government ID. In Australia, companion chatbots that can produce adult material must confirm you are 18 or older. In the UK, apps with adult content must use highly effective age checks.

You can see the result in the apps. SpicyChat's help page, checked on November 1, 2026, says it asks for a video selfie, with ID as a fallback, before showing adult content in France, the UK, Italy, Australia and 26 US states. It decides by your IP address and only asks once per account.

What happens to your companion when an app shuts down

Shutdowns rarely come with much warning. Soulmate AI gave users about a week. Dot gave a month to export data. In China, Doubao said data from its removed agent feature could not be viewed or recovered after October 15, 2026, three months after it went offline.

If a companion matters to you, export or copy your chats now rather than when the notice arrives. Check whether your app has an export option, and keep a note of the character details you would need to rebuild it somewhere else.

Dates coming up

December 2, 2026. The EU's grace period for labelling AI-generated content ends.
December 2026. The EU's ban on AI systems that generate non-consensual intimate images begins.
Coming months. New York's S.9051B restrictions apply. The governor's release gives no exact date.
January 1, 2027. Washington's HB 2225 and Oregon's SB 1546 take effect.
July 1, 2027. Georgia's SB 540 takes effect, and California operators file their first yearly reports to the state's Office of Suicide Prevention.

Verdict: what the new rules mean if you use a companion app

For most adults, the new laws change three things. Apps will remind you more often that you are talking to an AI, every 3 hours in New York and every 2 hours in China. More apps will ask you to prove your age before they show adult or romantic features, as SpicyChat already does in four countries and 26 US states and as New York's October law will require. And apps will point you to crisis services if you mention self-harm. Almost none of these laws limit what consenting adults can do once verified, and none of them stops an app from closing. Soulmate gave a week's notice and Dot gave a month, so the safest habit is to keep your own copy of chats you care about. The rules mainly protect minors. For adults, privacy still depends on each app's own policy, so read it before you share anything personal.

Compare apps before you pick one

Our roundup of the best AI companion apps compares age checks, content rules and privacy, and the pricing index lists what each one costs. If OurDream.ai fits what you want, the Crushella home page links to it. You must be 18 or older.

Frequently asked questions

Are there laws for AI companion apps?

Yes. As of November 2026, New York, California, Washington, Oregon and Georgia have passed laws written for companion chatbots, and China and Australia have national rules. Most require the app to say it is an AI, handle self-harm with crisis referrals and keep sexual content from minors. Washington, Oregon and Georgia's laws start in 2027.

What does California's SB 243 require?

SB 243 took effect on January 1, 2026. Companion chatbots must tell users they are an AI when a person could mistake them for a human, and publish a suicide and self-harm protocol with crisis referrals. Known minors get break reminders every 3 hours. Users can sue for $1,000 per violation, and yearly reports start in July 2027.

What is New York's AI companion law?

New York has two. The first, in force since November 5, 2025, makes companions say they are not human at the start of a chat and every 3 hours, and refer users to crisis services. The second, signed October 28, 2026, puts risky features such as romantic roleplay behind an age check, with fines of up to $25,000 per violation.

Do AI companion apps have to verify your age?

In some places. Australia has required companion chatbots that can produce adult material to confirm users are 18 or older since March 9, 2026. The UK requires highly effective age checks for adult content, and New York's October 2026 law will require them too. SpicyChat already asks for a video selfie in four countries and 26 US states.

What happens to my AI companion if the app shuts down?

Usually your companion and chats go with it, often with little warning. Soulmate AI gave users about a week in 2023, and Dot gave a month to export data in 2025. Doubao said data from its removed agent feature could not be recovered after October 15, 2026. Export or copy chats you care about while you can.

How often is this AI companion laws tracker updated?

I recheck it at the start of every month and add any law, fine, lawsuit, shutdown, price change or age-check change I can confirm from a source, with its date. The last check was November 1, 2026, and the next is due December 1, 2026. If you spot something missing, email support@crushella.com.