STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3785
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: H.B. No. 1782
H.D. 3
S.D. 2
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2026
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1782, H.D. 3, S.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR THE PROTECTION OF MINORS,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish safeguards, protections, oversight, and penalties for interactions between minors and artificial intelligence companion systems or conversational artificial intelligence services.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, State Health Planning and Development Agency, Office of Wellness and Resilience, Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi, HawaiiKidsCAN, Imua Alliance, Young People's Alliance, Public Citizen, Common Sense Media, Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association, Transparency Coalition, and thirteen individuals.
Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Computer and Communications Industry Association, NetChoice, and three individuals.
Your Committees
received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Office
of Consumer Protection of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Retail
Merchants of Hawaii, Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child
Development, and TechNet.
Your Committees find that artificial
intelligence technologies may be shaping the emotional and cognitive
development of minors in the State in ways that are not yet well
understood. Your Committees further find
that the State has an imperative to establish suitable protections for minors who
use artificial intelligence technologies as they become increasingly accessible
through consumer platforms, applications, and online services. This measure would proactively address the potential
harms to minors of artificial intelligence by strengthening accountability,
clarifying legal standards, and establishing modern protections for users.
Your Committees note the
concerns raised in testimony that
there may be provisions in this measure in its current form that create uncertainty
regarding enforcement, compliance, and constitutional risk. Your Committees note that the Department of
the Attorney General and interested stakeholders have had the opportunity to
discuss potential amendments to this measure to address these concerns. Therefore, this measure needs to be amended
to incorporate this consensus language.
Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Amending the definition of "AI companion
system" to clarify that it means a conversational AI service that is designed to simulate ongoing, personalized interpersonal interaction; retains or
references prior interactions to create continuity of relationship; and is
marketed or intended to be used for social, emotional, or simulated human
companionship purposes;
(2) Inserting
a definition of "material risk of harm to minors" and deleting
definitions of "emotional interdependency" and "relational
attachment";
(3) Replacing
language that would have required a provider to institute reasonable measures to prevent
conversational AI services and AI companion systems from generating or
deploying certain content with language that prohibits a provider from
knowingly allowing a conversational AI service or AI companion system to
generate or deploy certain content;
(4) Deleting
language that would have required a provider to institute reasonable measures
to prevent conversational AI services and AI companion systems from generating
or deploying:
(A) Manipulative techniques intended to foster emotional dependency; and
(B) Manipulative engagement techniques designed to foster prolonged interaction or emotional dependency by minors, including techniques that create artificial rewards, simulated exclusivity, or pressure to continue interacting with the service or system;
(5) Inserting language to clarify that a provider shall not knowingly allow a conversational
AI service or AI companion system to generate or deploy:
(A) Representations
that would lead a reasonable user to believe that the conversational AI service
or AI companion system has independent emotions, consciousness, or emotional
attachment to the user; and
(B) Personalized
outputs to discourage disengagement with the conversational AI service or AI
companion system after the user expresses intent to stop;
(6) Replacing language that would have required a
provider to adopt and maintain a
protocol for responding to user prompts that indicate suicidal ideation or risk
of serious self-harm with language that requires a provider to institute
reasonable measures to direct a user to appropriate crisis intervention or
support resources when the user's prompts indicate suicidal ideation or risk of
self-harm;
(7) Inserting
language that requires a provider to adopt and maintain, review and update, and
clearly and conspicuously publish on the provider's website a minor protection
plan containing certain measures to respond to material risk of harm to minors;
(8) Inserting
language that requires a provider to submit to the Office of Consumer Protection
certain summaries of assessments of material risks to minors conducted pursuant
to the provider's minor protection plan before deploying a new or substantially
modified conversational AI service or AI companion system;
(9) Deleting
language that would have required age assurance measures to be reasonable and
proportionate;
(10) Deleting
language that would have allowed a person injured as a result of a violation of
the provisions proposed by this measure to bring a civil action to recover
actual damages, injunctive relief, and reasonable attorneys' fees;
(11) Inserting
language to clarify that no person, including a consumer, shall bring a private
action to enforce the provisions proposed by this measure or support a private
action under any other law;
(12) Inserting
language to clarify that the duties, remedies, and obligations imposed
by the provisions proposed by this measure are cumulative to the duties,
remedies, or obligations imposed under other law and shall not be construed to
relieve a provider from any duties, remedies, or obligations imposed under any
other law; and
(13) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1782, H.D. 3, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1782, H.D. 3, S.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary,
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________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair |
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________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair |
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