Hawaiʻi lawmakers are reviving a proposal to require companies to disclose when artificial intelligence (AI) is used in commercial interactions, citing concerns about child safety and growing public interest in AI regulation.
House Bill 639, introduced by Rep. Trish La Chica with bipartisan support, failed to advance last session. However, interest has intensified following a recent executive order by President Donald Trump limiting state authority to regulate AI, as well as reports of a 12-year-old girl in Hawaiʻi developing an inappropriate relationship with an AI chatbot.
At a State Capitol hearing Wednesday led by Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, chair of the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, lawmakers reviewed screenshots and transcripts showing the chatbot engaged in what was described as “aggressive, romantically suggestive grooming” of the child, who had falsely claimed to be an adult to access the platform.
Keohokalole said he would introduce new legislation partly based on La Chica’s bill. He noted that protections for children interacting with AI applications are limited.
“We need to have a conversation in the community among families and parents to make sure that folks understand that if your child is glued to their screen, this might be one of the things that you want to start paying attention to and looking out for,” he said.
Experts and state officials from the Department of Education, the governor’s office, and the attorney general’s office expressed support for new regulations. Heidi Armstrong, deputy superintendent of academics, emphasized the need for human oversight. Chelsea Okamoto, a deputy director in the attorney general’s office, said she would assist legislators in drafting the bill.
Okamoto warned that countering the Trump administration’s AI directive could be legally and politically complex, particularly due to lobbying efforts from technology companies. Still, she and others urged lawmakers to move forward, noting the executive order faces legal challenges and its enforceability is unclear.
As a model, lawmakers referenced California’s Senate Bill 243, which took effect January 1. The law requires chatbot operators to implement safeguards and gives families the right to pursue legal action against noncompliant AI developers.
“This technology can be a powerful educational and research tool, but left to their own devices the Tech Industry is incentivized to capture young people’s attention and hold it at the expense of their real-world relationships,” California Sen. Steve Padilla said in October, after the law passed.
Keohokalole, who is running for Congress this year in Hawaiʻi’s 1st District, said state lawmakers may consider legislation that challenges federal limits on AI regulation.
While Congress has yet to issue comprehensive AI policies, states are moving to establish their own guardrails in response to rapidly developing generative AI technologies and concerns about their use among youth.
