In one paragraph
SB 963 would require a state license from the North Carolina Department of Justice to operate or distribute any chatbot dealing substantially with health information, with evidence of effectiveness, insurance, encryption, fast breach reporting and annual audits. A Chatbot Safety and Privacy Act would give larger chatbot providers a duty of loyalty: respond to users at risk of harm, prevent emotional dependence, disclose at each new interaction that the chatbot is not human and get consent, deidentify data, and keep sensitive data out of training. Users could sue for $1,000 per violation. Pending in the Senate.
Plain-English summary, written with AI assistance. The official text controls.
What it means for business
Nothing yet. If enacted, health chatbots in North Carolina would need a state license from 2027, and larger chatbot providers would owe users loyalty, disclosure, consent and data duties.
Key provisions
- Chatbot Licensing Act: no operating or distributing a chatbot that deals substantially with health information without a Department of Justice license (from January 1, 2027)
- Licensees need peer-reviewed evidence of effectiveness, professional liability insurance, encryption and security audits, breach reports within 24 hours to the Department and 48 hours to users, and an annual third-party audit
- Chatbot Safety and Privacy Act covers chatbot providers with over $100,000 in revenue or 5,000 monthly U.S. users, with a duty of loyalty to users' best interests
- Duties include detecting and responding when users indicate they may harm themselves or others, and preventing emotional dependence on companion-style chatbots
- At the start of every interaction, disclose that the chatbot is not human or sentient and get the user's explicit consent; no deceptive design
- Deidentify conversation data, keep sensitive personal information out of training data, auto-delete chats after 30 days in health, finance, legal, government, mental health and education uses, and encrypt messages in transit
- Attorney General enforcement; users may sue for the greater of actual damages or $1,000 per violation
- Filed April 30, 2026; referred to Senate Rules, then re-referred to Appropriations/Base Budget May 4, 2026
Latest legislative action
May 4, 2026. Re-ref Com On Appropriations/Base Budget
Sponsors
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Burgin | Cosponsor |
Topics and industries
Related topics
Affected industries
This page is general information, not legal advice. Summaries are AI-assisted and may contain errors; read the statute for the controlling text and talk to a lawyer about your situation. Full disclaimer · Report an error