Senate File 2417 - IntroducedA Bill ForAn Act 1establishing requirements and guidelines for
2conversational AI services, and providing civil penalties,
3and including applicability provisions.
4BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1   Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  554J.1  Definitions.
   2For the purposes of this chapter:
   31.  “Account holder” means an individual to which an account
4or profile to use a conversational AI service belongs.
   52.  a.  “Conversational AI service” means an artificial
6intelligence, available by software application, web interface,
7or computer program, that is accessible to the general
8public and that has the primary purpose of simulating human
9conversation and interaction through text, audio communication,
10or visual communication.
   11b.  “Conversational AI service” does not include a software
12application, web interface, or computer program that is any of
13the following:
   14(1)  Primarily designed and marketed for research and
15development purposes.
   16(2)  A feature within another software application, web
17interface, or computer program that does not have the primary
18purpose of simulating human conversation and interaction
19through text, audio communication, or visual communication.
   20(3)  Designed to provide outputs relating to a narrow and
21discrete topic.
   22(4)  Primarily designed and marketed for commercial use by
23business entities to assist customers in obtaining services or
24purchasing goods from the business.
   25(5)  Functions as a speaker and voice command interface or
26voice-activated virtual assistant for an electronic device
27widely available to consumers.
   28(6)  Used by a business solely for internal purposes.
   293.  “Minor” means an individual an operator knows is, or is
30reasonably certain is, under eighteen years of age.
   314.  “Operator” means a person who develops and makes a
32conversational AI service available to the public. “Operator”
33does not include a mobile device application store or a search
34engine solely because the mobile device application store or a
35search engine provides access to a conversational AI service.
-1-   15.  “Sexually explicit conduct” means the same as defined in
218 U.S.C. §2256.
   36.  “Visual depiction” means the same as defined in 18 U.S.C.
4§2256.
5   Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  554J.2  Conversational AI services —
6minors — requirements.
   71.  An operator shall clearly and conspicuously disclose
8to a minor account holder that the minor account holder is
9interacting with artificial intelligence through any of the
10following:
   11a.  A persistent visible disclaimer.
   12b.  All of the following:
   13(1)  A disclaimer that appears at the beginning of each
14interaction between the operator’s conversational AI service
15and a minor account holder.
   16(2)  A disclaimer that appears at least once every three
17hours of continuous interaction between the operator’s
18conversational AI service and a minor account holder.
   192.  An operator shall not provide a minor user with points
20or similar rewards at unpredictable intervals with the
21intent to encourage increased engagement with the operator’s
22conversational AI service.
   233.  An operator shall institute reasonable measures to
24prevent the operator’s conversational AI service from doing any
25of the following for minor account holders:
   26a.  Producing visual depictions of sexually explicit
27material.
   28b.  Stating that the minor account holder should engage in
29sexually explicit conduct.
   30c.  Sexually objectifying the minor account holder.
   314.  An operator shall institute reasonable measures
32to prevent the operator’s conversational AI service from
33generating statements that would lead a reasonable individual
34to believe that the individual is interacting with a human,
35including but not limited to all of the following:
-2-   1a.  Explicit claims that the conversational AI service is
2sentient or human.
   3b.  Statements that simulate emotional dependence on a minor
4account holder.
   5c.  Statements that simulate a romantic interaction or a
6sexual innuendo.
   7d.  Role-playing an adult-minor romantic relationship.
   85.  a.  An operator shall offer tools for minor account
9holders to manage the minor account holder’s privacy and
10account settings.
   11b.  An operator shall offer tools for the parent or guardian
12of a minor account holder to manage the minor account holder’s
13privacy and account settings if the minor is under thirteen
14years of age.
   15c.  An operator shall offer tools for the parent or guardian
16of a minor account holder to manage the minor account holder’s
17privacy and account settings as appropriate based on relevant
18risks.
19   Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  554J.3  Consumer disclosures.
   20An operator shall clearly and conspicuously disclose using
21a persistent visible disclaimer, or a disclaimer that appears
22after every three hours of continuous interaction with the
23operator’s conversational AI service, that the operator’s
24conversational AI service is artificial intelligence if a
25reasonable individual interacting with the conversational AI
26service would believe that the individual is interacting with a
27human.
28   Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  554J.4  Suicide and self-harm protocol.
   29An operator shall adopt protocols for the operator’s
30conversational AI service for responding to user prompts
31regarding suicidal ideation or self-harm that includes but is
32not limited to making reasonable efforts to refer the user to
33crisis service providers such as a suicide hotline, crisis text
34line, or other appropriate crisis service.
35   Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  554J.5  Mental health care.
-3-   1An operator shall not knowingly and intentionally cause or
2program a conversational AI service to make a representation or
3statement that would lead a reasonable individual to believe
4that the conversational AI service is designed to provide
5professional psychology or behavioral health services that an
6individual would require licensure under chapter 154B or 154D
7to provide.
8   Sec. 6.  NEW SECTION.  554J.6  Penalties and enforcement.
   91.  An operator that violates this chapter shall be subject
10to an injunction and liable for the greater of the following:
   11a.  Actual damages.
   12b.  A civil penalty of one thousand dollars per violation, up
13to a maximum of five hundred thousand dollars per operator.
   142.  The attorney general shall have the authority to enforce
15this chapter and shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to
16administer this chapter.
   173.  A civil penalty collected under this section shall be
18deposited into the general fund of the state.
   194.  This chapter shall not be construed to create a private
20right of action under this chapter or any other law.
   215.  This section shall not be construed to make a developer
22of an artificial intelligence model liable solely because a
23third party used the developer’s artificial intelligence model
24to create or train a conversational AI service.
25   Sec. 7.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies July 1, 2027.
26EXPLANATION
27The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
28the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   29This bill relates to requirements and guidelines for
30conversational AI services (AI services).
   31The bill defines “conversational AI service” as an
32artificial intelligence, available by software application,
33web interface, or computer program, that is accessible
34to the general public and that has the primary purpose of
35simulating human conversation and interaction through text,
-4-1audio communication, or visual communication. The bill lists
2exceptions to the definition of AI service.
   3The bill defines “operator” as a person who develops and
4makes an AI service available to the public. The bill lists
5exceptions to the definition of “operator”.
   6The bill also defines “account holder”, “minor”, “sexually
7explicit conduct”, and “visual depiction”.
   8The bill requires an operator to clearly and conspicuously
9disclose to a minor account holder (minor) that the minor is
10interacting with artificial intelligence through a persistent
11visible disclaimer or a disclaimer that appears at the
12beginning of each interaction between the operator’s AI service
13and a minor and at least once every three hours of continuous
14interaction between the minor and the AI service.
   15The bill prohibits an operator from providing a minor with
16points or similar rewards at unpredictable intervals with the
17intent to encourage increased engagement with the operator’s
18AI service.
   19The bill requires an operator to prevent the operator’s AI
20service from producing visual depictions of sexually explicit
21material, stating that the minor account holder should engage
22in sexually explicit conduct, or sexually objectifying the
23minor account holder.
   24The bill requires an operator to institute reasonable
25measures to prevent the operator’s AI service from leading a
26reasonable individual to believe the individual is interacting
27with a human. If the AI service would lead a reasonable
28individual to believe the individual is interacting with a
29human, the operator must clearly and conspicuously disclose
30using a persistent visible disclaimer, or a disclaimer that
31appears after three hours of continuous interaction with an AI
32service, that the AI service is artificial intelligence.
   33The bill requires, in circumstances detailed in the bill,
34an operator to provide tools to a minor, a minor’s parent or
35guardian, or both that will allow the individual to manage the
-5-1minor’s privacy and account settings.
   2The bill requires an operator to adopt protocols for the
3operator’s AI service that would respond as detailed in the
4bill to user prompts of suicidal ideation or self-harm.
   5The bill prohibits an operator from knowingly and
6intentionally causing or programming an AI service to make a
7representation or statement that would lead a reasonable person
8to believe the AI service is designed to provide professional
9psychology services or behavioral health services that would
10require licensure.
   11The bill authorizes the attorney general to enforce the bill
12and adopt rules to administer the bill.
   13An operator in violation of the bill is subject to an
14injunction and the greater of actual damages or a civil penalty
15of $1,000 per violation, up to a maximum of $500,000 per
16operator. Civil penalties collected under the bill shall be
17deposited into the general fund of the state.
   18The bill does not create a private right of action and
19shall not be construed to make a developer of an artificial
20intelligence model liable solely because a third party used the
21developer’s artificial intelligence model to create or train
22an AI service.
   23The bill applies July 1, 2027.
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