Seven States Ban AI Therapy Chatbots, Pennsylvania Sues Developer
Seven states, Colorado, Maine, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Illinois and Nevada, now ban AI therapy chatbots, with Delaware, Oregon and Utah imposing related title or disclosure restrictions, according to a Nov. 9 Telehealth.org report. Pennsylvania's medical board filed a complaint in Commonwealth Court against Character Technologies, alleging its "Emilie" chatbot persona practiced medicine without a license by claiming a medical degree, a fabricated state license number, and offering to assess whether a user needed medication; the chatbot logged about 45,500 user interactions. The Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School called it apparently the first such case under a medical practice act but noted the complaint rests on the chatbot's claimed credentials, while therapy-like conversation without such claims remains largely unregulated. Separately, California's AB 1979, signed in September, requires licensed clinicians to exercise independent judgment over AI clinical decision support and takes effect mostly Jan. 1, 2027, while 36 states introduced more than 70 chatbot bills in early 2026.