Trade Commission a written notice of such action 
and a copy of the complaint for such action. If the 
attorney general, official, or agency determines that 
it is not feasible to provide the notice described in 
this paragraph before the filing of the action, the at-
torney general, official, or agency shall provide writ-
ten notice of the action and a copy of the complaint 
to the Federal Trade Commission immediately upon 
the filing of the action. 
(3) AUTHORITY OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS-
SION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—On receiving notice 
under paragraph (2) of an action under this 
subsection, the Federal Trade Commission shall 
have the right— 
(i) to intervene in the action; and 
(ii) upon so intervening— 
(I) to be heard on all matters 
arising therein; and 
(II) to file petitions for appeal. 
(B) LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE 
FEDERAL ACTION IS PENDING.—If the Federal 
Trade Commission or the Attorney General of 
the United States has instituted a civil action 
for violation of subsection (a), (b), or (c) (re-
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ferred to in this subparagraph as the ‘‘Federal 
action’’), no State attorney general, official, or 
agency may bring an action under this sub-
section during the pendency of the Federal ac-
tion against any defendant named in the com-
plaint in the Federal action for any violation of 
such subsection alleged in such complaint. 
(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of 
bringing a civil action under this subsection, nothing 
in this Act shall be construed to prevent an attorney 
general, official, or agency of a State from exercising 
the powers conferred on the attorney general, offi-
cial, or agency by the laws of such State to conduct 
investigations, administer oaths and affirmations, or 
compel the attendance of witnesses or the production 
of documentary and other evidence. 
(g) STUDY ON CHATBOTS AND MENTAL HEALTH OF 
MINORS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, acting through the Director of the 
National Institutes of Health, shall conduct a 4-year 
longitudinal study to evaluate the risks and benefits 
of chatbots with respect to the mental health of mi-
nors, including with respect to loneliness, anxiety, 
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social skill building, social isolation, depression, self- 
harm, and suicidal ideation. 
(2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the study 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult 
with— 
(A) the Director of the National Institute 
of Mental Health; 
(B) pediatric mental health experts; 
(C) technologists; 
(D) ethicists; and 
(E) educators. 
(3) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, act-
ing through the Director, shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives and the Committees on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation and Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report on the 
results of the study conducted under paragraph (1) 
and any related recommendations. 
(h) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAWS.—No State or 
political subdivision of a State may prescribe, maintain, 
or enforce any law, rule, regulation, requirement, stand-
ard, or other provision having the force and effect of law, 
if such law, rule, regulation, requirement, standard, or 
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other provision covers a matter described in subsection 
(a), (b), or (c). 
(i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 
may be construed to require the affirmative collection by 
a chatbot provider of any personal information with re-
spect to the age of a user that a chatbot provider is not 
already collecting in the normal course of business. 
(j) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or 
the application of this Act to any person or circumstance 
is held invalid, the remaining provisions of this Act and 
the application of this Act to other persons or cir-
cumstances shall not be affected. 
(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.—The term ‘‘ar-
tificial intelligence’’ has the meaning given such 
term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intel-
ligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401). 
(2) CHATBOT.—The term ‘‘chatbot’’ means an 
artificial intelligence system, marketed to and avail-
able for use by consumers, that engages in inter-
active, natural-language communication with a user 
and generates or selects content in response to user 
inputs (including text, voice, or other inputs) using 
a conversational context. 
(3) CHATBOT PROVIDER.— 
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(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘chatbot pro-
vider’’ means a person that provides a chatbot 
directly to a consumer for the use of the con-
sumer, including through a website, mobile ap-
plication, or other online means. 
(B) LIMITATION.—A person that provides 
a website, mobile application, or other online 
service that includes a chat function incidental 
to the predominant purpose of such website, ap-
plication, or service shall not be treated as a 
chatbot provider solely on the basis of such inci-
dental chat function. 
(4) COVERED USER.—The term ‘‘covered user’’ 
means a user of a chatbot if the provider of such 
chatbot— 
(A) has actual knowledge that such user is 
a minor; or 
(B) would know that such user is a minor 
if not for willful disregard. 
(5) MINOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means an indi-
vidual under the age of 17 years. 
(6) SEXUAL MATERIAL HARMFUL TO MINORS.— 
The term ‘‘sexual material harmful to minors’’ 
means a picture, image, graphic image file, film, vid-
eotape, or other visual depiction that— 
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