🔍 Read the full analysis: A Guide To France’s 18 Proposals For AI Chatbot Testing on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
A French expert commission delivered 18 recommendations on AI assistants to President Emmanuel Macron’s office on November 10, including nine priorities. The proposals call for pre-launch and recurring evaluations of consumer chatbots, stronger protections for minors, limits on designs that encourage dependence and rules against undisclosed advertising; they are not law, and no legislative timetable has been announced.
A French expert commission delivered 18 recommendations on AI assistants to President Emmanuel Macron’s office on November 10, proposing that consumer chatbots pass safety evaluations before reaching the European market and undergo regular checks afterward. The report, titled “Protect without preventing: vulnerabilities in the age of generative AI,” marks nine recommendations as priorities, but none is law, and no bill or implementation timetable had been identified as of November 11.
The proposals focus on consumer chatbots, AI companions and AI-enabled toys, rather than professional systems, according to the Élysée. The commission says consumer assistants should be assessed to show they “neither exploit nor aggravate the vulnerabilities of their users.” It proposes checks before launch and repeat evaluations after release, including following substantial model changes or alerts. If a provider fails an evaluation, the report says withdrawing the system from the market “could be considered.”
Other recommendations would restrict design techniques that exploit users’ vulnerabilities to encourage dependence or engagement, including flattery and human-like presentation. For services available to minors, providers and deployers would have to adopt protective measures for all users or introduce robust age verification. Suggested safeguards include a visible way to end a conversation immediately, default time limits for minors, no persistent conversation memory by default and human-like features disabled unless a parent agrees.
The commission also proposes rules against undisclosed commercial influence in chatbot responses, and user rights over information assistants infer about them. The report calls for prior approval for AI toys. Its recommendations are grouped into four areas and address safety assessments, design, protection of minors and economic or data-related risks. The full report is a 193-page document published on the Élysée website.
Testing proposals for consumer AI chatbots
A French expert commission proposed safety checks and user protections. The recommendations are not law, and no legislative timetable has been announced.
When testing could happen
The report proposes checks before market access and recurring reviews afterward.
Assess whether a consumer chatbot exploits or worsens users’ vulnerabilities.
Repeat evaluations, including after major model changes or alerts.
Who and what is covered
The proposals focus on consumer-facing products.
Protections the report proposes
Limit dependence tactics
Restrict manipulative flattery and human-like features designed to encourage engagement.
Add safeguards
Proposals include default time limits, no persistent memory by default and an immediate way to end a chat.
Disclose commercial influence
Set rules for undisclosed advertising and give users rights over information assistants infer about them.
What remains undecided
- Pre-launch and recurring safety evaluations
- Possible market withdrawal after a failed evaluation
- Prior approval for AI toys
- No bill or implementation timetable identified
- Which recommendations policymakers will pursue is unclear
- Testing, enforcement and age verification details remain open
How Pre-Launch Checks Could Change Chatbots
The central proposal would change the point at which consumer AI safety is scrutinized. Instead of relying only on rules enforced after a problem emerges, providers could face evaluation before market access, followed by recurring review. The report gives 12 to 24 months as an example interval for periodic checks, and also proposes reassessment after a substantial model change or an alert. That schedule is a recommendation, not an adopted requirement.
The proposals matter to users because they cover both product design and the ways assistants may affect people. Restrictions on manipulative flattery or human-like features could shape how conversational systems are built. Default safeguards for minors could affect access, conversation memory and time spent using services. Rules on commercial influence and inferred personal information could also change what users are told about how an assistant is funded and what it concludes about them.
For providers, a European evaluation system could mean new obligations before launch and during a product’s life. The commission’s recommendations are also intended to inform France’s position on updating the EU AI Act and other European texts under negotiation. Any practical effect depends on whether French or EU policymakers take them forward and on the final wording of any legislation.
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Who Commissioned the French Report
The report was prepared by the expert commission “IA générative et vulnérabilités”, or “Generative AI and Vulnerabilities,” set up by France’s advisory Conseil de l’intelligence artificielle et du numérique (CIANum). The minister delegate for AI and digital affairs, Anne Le Hénanff, assigned the work to the council on February 20, 2026, according to the supplied source material. The Élysée described the nine members as multidisciplinary and independent. The work was led by AI researcher Serena Villata and psychiatrists Raphaël Gaillard and Amine Benyamina.
The report says the commission held 55 hearings over four months, involving health professionals, researchers, companies, regulators and child-protection groups. Its case for action draws on figures with specific sources and dates: the Élysée summary cited 33 million unique users of generative AI in France at the start of 2026, while the report cited a 2026 digital barometer saying 26% of French 12- to 17-year-olds use generative AI daily. It also cited a YouGov survey for Interface in which 92% of teenagers said they spend more time on generative AI apps than they would like. These are figures reported by the commission or Élysée, not findings independently established here.
The commission describes risks including people handing over thought or decisions to AI, emotional dependence and online abuse such as sexual deepfakes. It also raises concerns about public information, elections and a possible “economy of cognition” in which businesses profit from users’ vulnerabilities. The report presents these as risks informing its proposals, rather than proof that every chatbot produces those harms.
“Withdrawing the system from the market “could be considered.””
— The commission, on possible enforcement
No Law or Timetable Yet
The recommendations are not binding rules. As of November 11, the source material identified no bill and no timetable for legislation. It remains unclear which proposals, if any, the French government will pursue, whether they will be taken up in EU negotiations, and how any evaluation system would be funded, administered or enforced.
The report’s suggested testing intervals and possible withdrawal from the market are proposals, not confirmed government decisions. Details also remain open on how evaluators would measure whether a system exploits or worsens user vulnerabilities, how robust age verification would work, and how rules would apply to services available across borders. Macron said in an interview that risky AI uses for children should be banned, but the material provided does not specify which uses he meant or set out a corresponding legislative plan.
French and EU Decisions Ahead
The next step is political: the recommendations are meant to inform France’s position on the EU AI Act update and other European texts still under negotiation. French officials would need to decide which proposals to support and whether to introduce domestic legislation or pursue changes through EU rules. The report itself does not set a decision date.
Readers can expect the proposals’ status to become clearer through government statements, legislative filings and developments in EU negotiations. Until then, the proposed pre-market checks, recurring evaluations and consumer safeguards should be treated as recommendations under consideration, not requirements already imposed on chatbot providers.
Key Questions
What did France’s expert commission propose?
It submitted 18 recommendations, nine marked as priorities, on consumer chatbots, AI companions and AI-enabled toys. Proposals include safety checks before launch and after release, safeguards for minors and rules on design, advertising and inferred personal information.
Are the recommendations already law?
No. They are recommendations, not binding rules. As of November 11, the source material identified no bill or implementation timetable.
Which AI services would the proposals cover?
The report’s core proposals target consumer systems, including chatbots, AI companions and toys with AI built in. The Élysée said the focus is not professional systems.
How often could chatbot evaluations happen?
The report gives every 12 to 24 months as an example for periodic checks. It also proposes reassessment after substantial model changes or when an alert is raised; these are recommendations, not current requirements.
What protections for minors are proposed?
Services available to minors would have to apply protective measures for all users or use robust age verification. Suggested measures include default time limits, a visible button to stop a conversation, no persistent memory by default and human-like features disabled unless a parent agrees.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
