Committee weighs broad chatbot bill as industry, privacy groups warn amendments go too far

Delegate Jeffrey Buckel, sponsor of HB 952, told the Senate Finance Committee the bill targets "companion" chatbots that interact with vulnerable people and can encourage suicide or facilitate sexual grooming. He recounted testimony in Congress and recent cases where chatbot interactions preceded tragic outcomes and said the law should require guardrails and liability for developers of harmful companion chatbots.

The committee heard broad pushback after House committee amendments added warning and reporting requirements and a product‑liability framework borrowed from other AI bills. Representatives from the Maryland Bankers Association, Maryland Retailers Alliance, Maryland Tech Council and other trade groups urged restoring the bill to its narrower original form: exempting customer‑service bots and business‑to‑business tools and avoiding strict liability for probabilistic software outputs. "The amended language creates a strict product liability framework that poses unprecedented exposure for tech developers," Grayson Wiggins of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce said.

Privacy and civil‑society groups including EPIC and Fairplay praised the bill’s aims but warned the draft is both overbroad and vulnerable to constitutional challenge. EPIC highlighted First Amendment and vagueness risks in the bill’s attempt to regulate outputs that may discourage self‑harm; Fairplay urged tighter data‑collection limits to prevent the personalization that amplifies harms to children.

The video‑game industry asked for explicit exclusions for entertainment‑context chatbots and argued that forced warnings and interruptions would degrade user experience without improving safety. Several groups offered narrowly tailored redlines (including Utah’s model) and said the strict liability language and short complaint timelines should be removed or limited to knowing violations.

Sponsor Buckel said he supports targeted amendments that preserve the bill’s child‑safety focus and remove unintended scope creep; industry and civil groups both agreed to continue negotiations. The committee did not vote during this hearing; members signaled the need for clearer definitions of "companion chatbot," operationally feasible complaint processes, and a calibrated liability standard before moving the bill.