EU Kids Act
Source

COM(2026) 681/3 · 2026/0286 (COD)

Proposal · Sensitive until adoption

Text from the supplied proposal. Original wording, numbering and placeholders are preserved. Struck-through text retains its deletion marks.

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL EU KIDS ACT - 'EU Keeping Internet Digital Spaces Accountable and Trustworthy'

COM(2026) 681/3 · Proposal

Read Article 14 in the full document

Article 14 Obligations for AI companions and general conversational chatbots

1.

Providers of AI companions and of general conversational chatbots shall put in place proportionate and effective measures to ensure a high level of protection of the health, safety, fundamental rights and the well-being and development of minors that may access their AI system. Those measures shall include at least the following:

(a)

ensuring that minors are not exposed to addictive designs, by avoiding design features and system behaviours that simulate interpersonal relations that are likely to create emotional dependencies and by applying the measures set out in Article 9(1) and (3) to such systems;

(b)

ensuring that minors are provided with safe settings, by applying the measures set out in Article 11 to such systems, including by ensuring that, by default, their system does not use information or analysis derived from a minor's prior interactions in subsequent interactions, except where necessary to protect the minor's safety, to give effect to the settings referred to in Article 11;

(c)

ensuring transparency on economic transactions, by applying the measures set out in Article 13 to such systems;

(d)

ensuring that access to services and systems referred to in paragraph 1 for minors below the age of 13 years is only enabled and controlled by means of the tools for guardians referred to in Article 20;

(e)

performing state-of-the art evaluations and testing of the system for risks to the health, safety and fundamental rights and the physical, mental and emotional well-being and development of minors that are likely to arise when minors interact with the system, and implementing appropriate safeguards to address those risks, prior to the system’s placement on the market or putting into service;

(f)

post-market monitoring to identify, assess and, where appropriate, mitigate harms and emerging risks referred to in point (d) of this paragraph, including through detecting and responding to serious incidents involving minors, unless the system is provided by a micro or small enterprise within the meaning of Recommendation 2003/361/EC.

2.

Where an AI companion or a general conversational chatbot is deployed as a functionality of an online social networking services, video-sharing platform services, or an online game in the provision of any such service, providers of such services shall ensure that:

(a)

the AI companion or general conversational chatbot is not activated automatically and, that the functionality is not displayed prominently on the online interface of that service;

(g)

minors are not encouraged to use the AI companion or general conversational chatbot;

(h)

where enabled, minors have the option to opt out easily and at any time, of using the AI companion or general conversational chatbot.

3.

Providers of AI companions and of general conversational chatbots that adhere to a code of conduct assessed as adequate by the Commission in accordance with Article 23 may rely upon that code to demonstrate compliance with the obligations set out in this Article.