Twelve States Just Built the Companion Chatbot Rulebook — and Federal Law Still Doesn’t Exist – Forkast

An article published by Forkast under the headline "Twelve States Just Built the Companion Chatbot Rulebook — and Federal Law Still Doesn't Exist" reports that more than 12 states have enacted specific companion chatbot legislation, with no unified federal framework in place. According to the article, operators now face what it describes as a "compliance-by-multiplication" reality, in which they must satisfy separate state requirements rather than a single national rule.

The article states that common requirements across these state laws include clear non-human disclosure, minor protections such as three-hour break reminders, and protocols that detect suicidal ideation and trigger 988 crisis referrals. The article does not name the individual states that have enacted the legislation, nor the companies covered by the FTC order.

The article presents the twelve-state rulebook as the state-level response in the absence of federal legislation, and identifies the FTC's September 2025 6(b) study order as the federal action it describes. It notes that the requirements it lists — disclosure, minor protections, and crisis referral protocols — recur across the states that have enacted companion chatbot laws. The headline states the article's framing directly: twelve states have built the rulebook, and federal law still does not exist.