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Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky House Bill 641 Regulates Mental Health Chatbots and Protects User Privacy
Last action · February 23, 2026: to Small Business & Information Technology (H)Sponsor: Vanessa Grossl
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What This Bill Proposed
Kentucky HB 641 prohibits suppliers of mental health chatbots from selling or sharing users' individually identifiable health information or inputs with third parties, and requires them to clearly disclose that users are interacting with artificial intelligence rather than a human. The measure mandates that suppliers follow specific safety, testing, and advertising rules to avoid liability and authorizes the Attorney General to enforce violations with administrative fines up to $2,500.
Users of artificial intelligence mental health applications gain strict privacy protections regarding their personal health data and conversations, while developers face mandatory compliance protocols, disclosure requirements, and potential fines up to $5,000 for order violations.
- The General Assembly is the legislative branch of the Commonwealth of Kentucky responsible for enacting state laws. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Suppliers of mental health chatbots
Suppliers must comply with strict data-sharing prohibitions, artificial intelligence disclosure schedules, advertising restrictions, and annual policy filings with the Attorney General or face fines and civil penalties.
Users located in Kentucky
Users receive enhanced privacy protections preventing the sale or sharing of their health data and user inputs, along with mandatory disclosures regarding artificial intelligence use.
Licensed mental health therapists
Therapists are integrated into development and review protocols for chatbot systems, and chatbots are explicitly barred from being recognized as licensed therapists.
Attorney General
The Attorney General is empowered to administer and enforce the provisions of the act, collect filing fees and fines, and bring administrative, civil, or court actions.
Key Facts
- Suppliers are prohibited from selling or sharing user health information and user inputs with third parties, with narrow exceptions for user-consented care providers and necessary contractual functionality.
- Chatbots must clearly and conspicuously disclose to users that the system is artificial intelligence and not a human before access, every 7 days if inactive, every 30 minutes during interaction, and upon user inquiry.
- Suppliers are barred from using user inputs to determine ad placement, target advertisements, or customize ad presentations within chatbot conversations.
- Suppliers can establish an affirmative defense to liability by creating and implementing a written compliance policy, maintaining development documentation, and filing the policy annually with the Attorney General.
Show all 8 facts
- Compliance policies must prioritize user mental health and safety over engagement metrics or profits and ensure clinical review by licensed mental health therapists.
- The Attorney General administers and enforces the act under the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act, with administrative fines up to $2,500 per violation.
- Courts may impose civil penalties of up to $5,000 for each violation of an administrative or court order issued under the act, deposited into the consumer privacy fund.
- The bill may be cited as the Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health Act.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a mental health chatbot under this bill?
How often must a mental health chatbot disclose that it is not a human?
What penalties can the Attorney General impose for violations?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 23, 2026HouseCommitteeto Small Business & Information Technology (H)
- Feb 13, 2026HouseIntroducedintroduced in House to Committee on Committees (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Integration of HIPAA Standards into Consumer Protection
The bill extends federal health privacy concepts (45 C.F.R. pt. 160 and 164) into state consumer protection statutes for artificial intelligence suppliers not traditionally classified as covered entities.
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz50Current news / social attention level
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