AI companions meet the law: New York and California draw the first lines

Dec 28, 2025
1 min read

Among youth, usage is especially widespread. Pew Research Center reports 64% of U.S. teens say they use AI chatbots and about three in 10 use them daily while Common Sense Media finds 72% of teens have tried "AI companions" and over half use them at least a few times a month.

Common Sense reports that roughly one in three teens are using companions for social interaction or emotional support and that about one in three teen users felt uncomfortable with something a companion said or did.

This combination of rapid mainstream adoption, emotionally loaded use cases, and uneven safety guardrails, forms the backdrop for the new legal lines now being drawn by New York and California. At the same time, pressure has grown as several companion-style apps became the subject of congressional letters, FTC inquiries, and parental lawsuits.