TL;DR
A French expert commission delivered 18 recommendations on consumer AI assistants to the Élysée on November 10, including nine priorities. Its proposals include checks before launch and after major changes, safeguards for minors and limits on designs that could encourage dependence. The recommendations are not law, and no bill or timetable had been announced by November 11.
A French expert commission delivered 18 recommendations on consumer AI assistants to the Élysée on November 10, proposing that chatbots and AI companions be evaluated before reaching the European market and checked again after launch. The proposals, including nine marked as priorities, are recommendations rather than law; as of November 11, no bill or implementation timetable had been announced.
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The commission’s central proposal is that consumer AI systems should reach the European market only after an evaluation finds that they “neither exploit nor aggravate the vulnerabilities of their users.” It calls for further checks at regular intervals, after substantial model changes and when alerts are raised. The report gives checks every 12 to 24 months as one example. If a provider failed to meet the proposed standard, the report says withdrawing the system from the market “could be considered.”
Other recommendations address product design, advertising and user protections. The experts propose restrictions on techniques such as flattery and human-like presentation when used to encourage dependence or engagement. They also call for a ban on disguised advertising in AI answers and for users to have rights over information a chatbot infers about them. For services available to minors, providers and deployers would have to adopt protections for all users or use robust age verification.
The report lists possible protections for younger users, including an immediately visible way to end a conversation, default time limits and no persistent conversation memory by default. It also proposes switching off human-like features unless a parent agrees. AI toys would require prior approval under the recommendations. The Élysée says the central proposal concerns consumer systems, rather than professional AI tools.
Proposed Checks Before and After Launch
The recommendations would change when and how regulators assess consumer AI products. Instead of relying only on general rules and responding after problems arise, the commission wants evaluation before market entry and repeated checks as systems change. That approach could make product design and updates subject to closer scrutiny, though the report does not itself create a legal obligation.
The focus on minors and emotional dependence reflects concerns that conversational systems can affect users differently from conventional software. The report also points to risks from online violence, including sexual deepfakes, and to wider effects on public information and elections. Those are the commission’s stated concerns; the recommendations do not establish that a specific product caused harm.
For companies and users, the practical effect depends on whether French officials pursue the proposals and whether EU institutions adopt rules along similar lines. Most recommendations, according to the report, would require action at EU level. The immediate development is therefore a proposed regulatory direction, not a change to what consumers can currently use.
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How the Commission Reached Its Proposals
The commission, named “IA générative et vulnérabilités,” was established by France’s Conseil de l’intelligence artificielle et du numérique, an advisory council on AI and digital technology. The minister delegate for AI and digital affairs, Anne Le Hénanff, assigned the work on February 20, 2026. According to the Élysée, nine multidisciplinary and independent experts carried it out, led by AI researcher Serena Villata and psychiatrists Raphaël Gaillard and Amine Benyamina.
The report says the commission held 55 hearings over four months with health professionals, researchers, companies, regulators and child-protection groups. Its 193-page report, titled “Protect without preventing: vulnerabilities in the age of generative AI,” was published on the Élysée website on November 10. The commission’s remit covers consumer chatbots, AI companions and toys with AI built in.
The report cites figures to describe adoption and concerns in France, including 33 million unique users of generative AI at the start of the year, according to the Élysée summary. It also cites a 2026 digital barometer finding that 26% of 12- to 17-year-olds use generative AI daily, and a YouGov survey for Interface in which 92% of teenagers said they spend more time on generative AI apps than they would like. These figures come from different sources and surveys; they are not measurements of the effects of the proposals.
The commission presents its work as input to France’s position on updating the EU AI Act and other European texts still under negotiation. President Emmanuel Macron has said risky AI uses for children should be banned, according to the source material. That statement is separate from the commission’s recommendations and does not establish that a specific ban has been proposed in legislation.
““A paradigm shift.””
— The Élysée
From Recommendations to Rules
The report does not make its proposals binding. As of November 11, the available source material identified no bill and no timeline for turning them into French or EU rules. It is also unclear which recommendations French officials will support, how EU institutions and other member states may respond, or whether the proposed evaluation system would apply to all consumer chatbots in the same way.
Details of implementation remain open. The report gives a 12-to-24-month interval as an example for recurring checks, rather than a fixed schedule, and says market withdrawal “could be considered.” The source material does not specify the regulator that would conduct evaluations, the penalties for non-compliance, or how the commission’s suggested safeguards would be measured across different products.
France’s Next EU Negotiations
The next step described in the report is for its recommendations to inform France’s position in discussions on updating the EU AI Act and other European texts under negotiation. No formal decision date is identified in the available material. Further developments would include any government response, draft legislation or proposals France advances in EU negotiations.
Until those steps occur, the commission’s 18 proposals remain a set of recommendations. The report gives regulators and policymakers a detailed framework to discuss, while the timing, scope and eventual legal requirements remain unsettled.
Key Questions
Are the 18 recommendations already law?
No. They are recommendations from an expert commission. As of November 11, the source material reported no bill or timetable to enact them.
Which AI products would the proposals cover?
The report focuses on consumer chatbots, AI companions and AI-enabled toys. The Élysée says its central proposal targets consumer systems, rather than professional ones.
What checks does the commission propose?
It proposes evaluations before consumer AI systems reach the European market, followed by recurring checks, including after substantial model changes or alerts. Every 12 to 24 months is given as an example interval, not a confirmed schedule.
What protections are proposed for minors?
Providers and deployers would have to adopt protective measures for all users or use robust age verification. Suggested measures include default time limits, no persistent memory by default and a visible button to end a conversation immediately.
Source: Thorsten Meyer AI
