The People-First Chatbot Act (H.R. 9619, 119th Congress) is a U.S. House bill introduced on July 9, 2026 by Reps. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) and Greg Casar (D-TX). The bill would bar AI companies from training chatbots on minors' chat logs and would mandate monthly chatbot safety assessments (Source: nextgov.com). Its official title is "To require artificial intelligence chatbot providers to provide data privacy and security, and for other purposes"; on introduction it was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and as of July 13, 2026 the bill text had not yet been posted on Congress.gov (Source: congress.gov). Foushee's office describes it as comprehensive legislation establishing federal safeguards for Americans interacting with AI chatbots, introduced alongside more than 30 endorsing organizations (Source: foushee.house.gov).
Provisions
As reported at introduction, the bill's two principal requirements are:
- A prohibition on training chatbots on the chat logs of minor users (Source: nextgov.com).
- Monthly safety assessments of chatbot products (Source: insideaipolicy.com).
Support
The bill drew backing from the conservative Institute for Family Studies alongside consumer advocacy groups, a cross-ideological support pattern also seen in the broader minor-protection chatbot push (Source: insideaipolicy.com). The Consumer Federation of America publicly endorsed the bill on introduction (Source: consumerfed.org).
Context
The bill was introduced during a week of House AI bills that also included Rep. Michael McCaul's Accelerating Innovation for Kids with Cancer Act (July 9) and the bipartisan Spot the Fakes Act (July 2), and the day before Sen. Ed Markey released an "AI Accountability Agenda" bundling ten previously introduced bills (Source: nextgov.com). It joins the CHATBOT Act and GUARD Act in the congressional push to restrict AI companion and chatbot products for minors, and overlaps in subject matter with state laws such as Illinois SB 3444.
Relationships
- related: GUARD Act (Hawley) — parallel minor-protection chatbot bill (Senate)
- related: Companion Chatbot Harms — Cross-Cutting Analysis, AI Mental Health and Psychological Harm — the harm record motivating minor-protection chatbot bills
- related: Ed Markey — same-week children's-privacy legislative push