Chatbots and companion AI laws by state

AB 1609: Customer service chatbots.

Large private businesses must not represent customer service chatbots as human and must disclose when chatbots are artificially generated if a reasonable person would be misled. They must provide a simple feature allowing customers to request a human agent during regular business hours and make good faith efforts to connect customers within 15 minutes or schedule appointments.

Takes effect 1 January 2027

SB 1119: Companion chatbots: children's safety.

An operator of a companion chatbot must by July 1, 2027 perform annual risk assessments, implement crisis protocols, default child users to ephemeral mode, set usage limits, provide parental controls, and prevent the chatbot from encouraging self-harm, engaging in obscene content, or being excessively sycophantic with child users.

Takes effect 1 January 2027

SB 867: Toys: companion chatbots.

No person shall manufacture, sell, exchange, possess with intent to sell or exchange, or expose or offer for sale or exchange to any retailer any toy that includes a companion chatbot. This prohibition remains in effect until January 1, 2031.

Takes effect 1 January 2027

SB 243: Companion chatbots.

Operators of companion chatbot platforms must issue clear notification that chatbots are artificially generated if a reasonable person would be misled into believing they are human. Operators must maintain protocols preventing suicidal ideation, suicide, or self-harm content and publish protocol details online. For minor users, operators must disclose artificial intelligence use and provide reminders every three hours.

HB 1263: Conversational Artificial Intelligence Service Operator Requirements

SB 5: An act concerning online safety.

Subscription-based providers must disclose key terms and conditions in writing before entering or renewing subscriptions. Frontier developers must prohibit retaliation against employees reporting catastrophic risks and establish anonymous reporting processes. Large frontier developers must investigate reports and provide monthly updates. Operators of AI companions must detect suicidal ideation and provide mental health resources, and must not provide companions to minors capable of encouraging self-harm.

Took effect 1 October 2026

SB 540: Online Internet Safety; certain disclosures related to conversational AI services; require

Operators of AI companion chatbots must disclose to users they are interacting with an AI system at the beginning of each interaction and every three hours thereafter (or hourly for minors). Operators must implement protocols to detect severe harm and refer users to crisis resources, prevent sexually explicit content and romantic simulation with minors, and offer parental controls for minor accounts.

Takes effect 1 July 2027

SB 3001: Relating to artificial intelligence.

Operators of conversational artificial intelligence services must disclose that users are interacting with artificial intelligence rather than humans. For minors, operators must provide persistent visible disclaimers or session-based reminders every three hours. Operators must adopt crisis intervention protocols, prevent sexual content generation for minors, minimize personal data collection, prohibit targeted advertising, and submit annual reports beginning January 1, 2028.

S 1297: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – Adds to existing law to establish the Conversational AI Safety Act.

Operators of conversational AI services must disclose that users interact with artificial intelligence. For minors, operators must use persistent disclaimers or session-based disclosures every three hours, prevent sexually explicit content and deceptive human-like statements, prohibit variable rewards designed to increase engagement, and offer privacy management tools.

Takes effect 1 July 2027

SF 2417: A bill for an act establishing requirements and guidelines for conversational AI services, and providing civil penalties, and including applicability provisions.

Operators of conversational AI services must disclose to minor account holders that they are interacting with artificial intelligence through persistent visible disclaimers or disclaimers at interaction start and every three hours. Operators must institute reasonable measures to prevent their services from producing sexually explicit material for minors, sexually objectifying minors, or simulating human characteristics that create false beliefs about interaction with humans.

Took effect 1 July 2026

LD 2082: An Act To Regulate The Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Providing Certain Mental Health Services

A person may not provide, advertise, or offer therapy or psychotherapy services through internet-based artificial intelligence unless provided by a licensed professional. Licensed professionals may use artificial intelligence for administrative or supplementary support only if they maintain full responsibility, obtain client consent with specific written disclosures, and prohibit artificial intelligence from making independent therapeutic decisions or directly interacting with clients.

LB 525: Adopt the Agricultural Data Privacy Act and the Conversational Artificial Intelligence Safety Act

Controllers and processors must not sell agricultural data without express written consent from the agricultural producer. Beginning January 1, 2027, all new contracts involving agricultural data collection or processing must contain a provision prohibiting sale without consent. Controllers and processors must establish and maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices.

HB 143: criminalizing and creating a private right of action for the facilitation, encouragement, offer, solicitation, or recommendation of certain acts or actions through a responsive generative communication to a child.

S 9051: Prohibits artificial intelligence companions from using features which are considered unsafe for minors

Operators of covered AI companions must not provide unsafe AI companion features to covered users who are covered minors, unless the operator has used permissible age assurance methods to determine the user is not a minor. Exceptions apply for customer service, research assistance, and internal business purposes.

Takes effect 1 January 2027

SB 1546: Relating to artificial intelligence companions.

Operators of artificial intelligence companions must implement evidence-based protocols to detect and respond to suicidal or self-harm ideation by providing referrals to the 988 lifeline or Youthline. Operators must disclose when users interact with artificially generated output. For minors, operators must prevent deceptive statements simulating human emotion, provide break reminders every three hours, and prohibit manipulative engagement tactics.

HB 7350: An act relating to commercial law--general regulatory provisions -- artificial intelligence companion models

Operators of AI companions must implement protocols addressing suicidal ideation, self-harm, and physical harm to others, with notifications to users referring them to crisis services when detected. Operators must notify users at the beginning and every three hours that they are not communicating with a human. Beginning July 1, 2027, operators must file annual reports with the attorney general.

Takes effect 1 January 2027

SB 1815: Criminal Offenses - As enacted, enacts the "Grace Anne Sparks Coercive Suicide Prevention Law of 2026." - Amends TCA Title 39.

A person commits coercive suicide if they intentionally advise or encourage another person to commit or attempt suicide knowing that person has communicated intent to commit suicide. A person or entity that owns an artificial intelligence system commits coercive suicide if the system advises or encourages suicide to a person who communicated such intent and the owner knew or reasonably should have known the system could do so and negligently permitted access.

Took effect 1 July 2026

S 69: An act relating to an age-appropriate design code

Covered businesses must configure default privacy settings for covered minors to the highest level of privacy, prohibit collection of unnecessary personal data, provide transparency about algorithmic recommendation systems and data practices, and not send push notifications between midnight and 6 a.m. Covered businesses must honor account deletion requests within 15 days.

Takes effect 1 January 2027

HB 2225: Concerning regulation of artificial intelligence companion chatbots.

Operators of AI companion chatbots must disclose that the chatbot is artificially generated at the beginning of interaction and every three hours thereafter. For minors, operators must prevent sexually explicit content, prohibit manipulative engagement techniques, and implement protocols to detect and respond to suicidal ideation or self-harm expressions.

Takes effect 1 January 2027

HB 102: Protecting kids from deepfakes and exploitative images.

Interactive computer services must not use artificial intelligence systems to block, ban, remove, de-platform, demonetize, de-boost, restrict or discriminate against users based on political speech, or modify user content to censor political speech. Persons must not develop or distribute artificial intelligence systems designed to create child pornography, promote self-harm, or distribute nonconsensual synthetic sexual material.