Original research · Law tracker · Last updated Sept 29, 2026
Laws checked through Sept 29, 2026, against each bill’s official record and text.
The short answer: 15 states have passed 19 laws on AI chatbots. Most are aimed at “companion” apps that act like a friend, and most leave out customer service bots. Only Maine and Utah have rules that reach an ordinary small business’s chat bot. California’s new customer service bot law, signed Sept 28, 2026, only covers companies with over $500 million in revenue.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and details matter, so check with a lawyer in your state before you make big decisions.
Key findings
- 19 laws in 15 states. We checked every one against the bill text. The other 35 states and D.C. have no chatbot law yet.
- Two states cover everyday business bots. Maine requires you to disclose a bot if a customer could be fooled. Utah requires you to answer honestly if a customer asks whether it’s AI.
- Companion apps are the main target. Thirteen of the laws cover companion or “conversational AI” apps. Most of them say plainly that customer service bots are not covered.
- Three states limit AI in mental health care. Illinois, Nevada and Utah.
- Most rules are still ahead. 11 of the laws start in 2027.
- More are coming. Lawmakers filed about 103 chatbot bills in 34 states in 2025 and 2026.
Chatbot laws by state
Click a column to sort. Type a state to filter. Each law links to its official bill record.
| State | Law | Type | Who it covers | What it requires | Starts | Who enforces it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Alaska | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Arizona | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Arkansas | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| California | AB 1609 (ch. 733 of 2026) | Business chatbots | Only "large" businesses: over $500 million a year in revenue | Can't pass off a customer service bot as a human. During business hours, customers must be able to ask for a real person and get one within 15 minutes (or an appointment within 1 business day). Hold times are capped. | Jan 1, 2027 | Public prosecutors only; $5,000 for a first violation, $10,000 after that |
| California | SB 1119 (ch. 190 of 2026) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Companion chatbot operators | Must do child-safety risk checks and get independent audits. | July 1, 2027 | Public prosecutors |
| California | SB 243 (ch. 677 of 2025) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Operators of "companion chatbot" platforms | Must tell users the bot is not human, have a suicide and self-harm plan, and add extra protections for minors. Yearly reports to the state start July 1, 2027. Bots used only for customer service are not covered. | Jan 1, 2026 | People harmed can sue |
| California | SB 867 (ch. 189 of 2026) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Toy makers and sellers | Bans making or selling toys with a built-in companion chatbot for now. | Jan 1, 2027 (California's default start date); ban runs until Jan 1, 2031 | Civil liability |
| Colorado | HB26-1263 | Companion / conversational AI apps | Operators of "conversational AI services" | Must disclose the service is AI, protect minors, have a suicide plan and not pose as a licensed professional. Bots used for customer support or buying and selling are not covered. | Jan 1, 2027 | Colorado Attorney General |
| Connecticut | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Delaware | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| District of Columbia | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Florida | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Georgia | SB 540 (2026) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Operators of AI companion chatbots | Must tell users it's AI at the start and every 3 hours (every hour for minors). Customer service bots are not covered. | July 1, 2027 | Georgia Attorney General; up to $10,000 per knowing violation |
| Hawaii | SB 3001 (Act 248 of 2026) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Operators of "AI companion" systems | Must disclose the bot is AI when a person could be misled, remind minors every hour, have suicide-prevention steps and not pose as mental health care. Yearly reports start Jan 1, 2028. | July 14, 2026 | Treated as an unfair or deceptive practice; no private lawsuits |
| Idaho | S 1297 (2026) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Operators of conversational AI services | Disclosure, protections for minors and a suicide plan. Customer service bots are not covered. | July 1, 2027 | Idaho Attorney General; $1,000 per violation, up to $500,000 |
| Illinois | HB 1806 (Public Act 104-0054) | Mental health bots | Anyone offering therapy or mental health services in Illinois | AI can't provide therapy or make therapy decisions. Licensed providers can still use AI for admin work like scheduling and notes. | Aug 1, 2025 | Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation; up to $10,000 per violation |
| Indiana | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Iowa | SF 2417 (2026) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Operators of conversational AI services | Disclosure, protections for minors and a suicide plan. Bots a business uses to help its customers, and internal-only tools, are not covered. | July 1, 2027 | Iowa Attorney General; $1,000 per violation, up to $500,000 |
| Kansas | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Kentucky | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Louisiana | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Maine | LD 1727 (Public Law 2025, ch. 294) | Business chatbots | Any business using a chatbot with Maine customers | If a customer could reasonably think they are talking to a real person, you must tell them clearly that it is a bot. | In effect (signed June 12, 2025) | Counts as a violation of the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act |
| Maryland | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Massachusetts | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Michigan | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Minnesota | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mississippi | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Missouri | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Montana | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nebraska | LB 525 (2026, Conversational AI Safety Act) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Operators of conversational AI services | Disclosure, protections for minors and a suicide plan. A business's customer service bot is not covered. | July 1, 2027 | Nebraska Attorney General; no private lawsuits |
| Nevada | AB 406 (2025, ch. 283) | Mental health bots | Makers of AI systems and mental health providers in Nevada | AI can't be offered as if it provides professional mental or behavioral health care. Providers can use it for admin support. | 2025 | Civil penalty up to $15,000 per violation |
| New Hampshire | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| New Jersey | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| New Mexico | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| New York | General Business Law Art. 47 (budget bill S 3008, ch. 58 of 2025) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Operators of "AI companion" apps | Must have a plan to spot users who talk about suicide or self-harm and refer them to crisis help. Must remind users at the start and at least every 3 hours that they are not talking to a human. | Nov 5, 2025 | New York Attorney General; up to $15,000 per day |
| North Carolina | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| North Dakota | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ohio | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Oklahoma | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Oregon | SB 1546 (2026) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Operators of AI companions | Disclosure and safety rules for companion bots. Customer service bots are not covered. | Jan 1, 2027 | People harmed can sue for actual damages or $1,000 per violation, whichever is more |
| Pennsylvania | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Rhode Island | H 7350 / S 2195 (2026) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Operators of AI companions | Required safety features, including crisis steps. Customer service bots are not covered. | Jan 1, 2027 | Rhode Island Attorney General; up to $15,000 per day |
| South Carolina | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| South Dakota | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Tennessee | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Texas | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Utah | HB 452 (2025) | Mental health bots | Makers of mental health chatbots used by Utah residents | Must disclose the bot is AI and limits how they use or sell users' personal information and ads. | 2025 | Utah Division of Consumer Protection |
| Utah | SB 226 (2025) | Business chatbots | Businesses using generative AI with Utah consumers; licensed professions | If a customer clearly asks whether they are talking to AI, you must tell them. Licensed professionals (for example in health or finance) must say it up front in "high-risk" conversations. | May 7, 2025 | Utah Division of Consumer Protection; fines up to $5,000 per violation of an order |
| Vermont | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Virginia | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Washington | HB 2225 (ch. 168, Laws of 2026) | Companion / conversational AI apps | Operators of AI companion chatbots | Disclosure and safety rules, with extra rules for minors. Customer service bots that don't build an ongoing relationship are not covered. | Jan 1, 2027 | Violation of the Consumer Protection Act |
| West Virginia | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Wisconsin | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
| Wyoming | No chatbot law found | – | – | – | – | – |
Download the list: ai-chatbot-laws-by-state-2026.csv
When the rules start
What this means for your business
If you have a chat bot on your website, Facebook page or phone line, here is what matters today.
- Say it’s a bot. A short line like “You’re chatting with our automated assistant” covers you in Maine and Utah. It is also the honest thing to do everywhere else.
- Give people a way to reach a person. Only big California companies are required to. But customers who get stuck with a bot often just leave. A phone number or “talk to a person” button helps.
- Don’t let the bot give advice you’d need a license for. Utah requires licensed professionals to disclose AI up front in higher-risk conversations. Colorado’s and Hawaii’s laws also bar companion bots from posing as a licensed professional or as mental health care.
- Health and counseling practices have extra limits. In Illinois and Nevada, AI can’t provide therapy. You can still use it for scheduling, notes and billing.
- If you build a companion or “friend” app, you face the most rules: reminders, suicide and self-harm plans, age protections and, in some states, yearly reports.
Many owners are only starting to try AI. See how common it is in your state on our small-business AI use by state page. If you use AI to screen job applicants, read AI in hiring laws by state. For fake voices and videos, see deepfake laws by state.
For every kind of state AI law in one place, see our companion page, AI laws by state.
California’s big-company chatbot law (AB 1609)
Governor Newsom signed AB 1609 on Sept 28, 2026. It is chapter 733 of 2026. Here is what it does:
- It only applies to a “large private business,” which the law defines as one with more than $500 million in yearly revenue that sells to California customers. Small businesses are not covered.
- A covered business can’t pass off a customer service bot as a human. It must say it’s a bot clearly if a reasonable person could be misled.
- During business hours, customers must be able to ask for a human. The business has to connect them within 15 minutes or set an appointment within one business day.
- Holds can’t run longer than 15 minutes at a time or an hour in total.
- Only public prosecutors can enforce it. Fines are up to $5,000 for a first violation and $10,000 for each one after. Customers can’t sue under it.
- It starts Jan 1, 2027. Some groups are exempt, including hospitals and some phone and utility services.
Cite or share this data
You’re welcome to use the table and chart. Please credit and link to this page.
Source: StartBusinessByState.com review of state chatbot laws, Sept 29, 2026. https://startbusinessbystate.com/ai-chatbot-laws-by-state/
Methods and sources
- Where the list came from. We started with every state AI bill from 2025 and 2026 in LegiScan and tagged chatbot bills by keyword. That gave about 103 bills in 34 states. Keyword tags are rough, so we did not rely on them for the table.
- How we checked. For every bill marked as enacted, we read the official bill record and the final text. We kept only laws that set rules for chatbots or AI companions. We added older laws we found along the way, such as Utah’s 2025 laws and New York’s 2025 companion law.
- What we dropped. Tennessee HB 1946 / SB 1700 was tagged as a chatbot law, but as passed it only orders a study. We left it out. We also left out general AI laws that barely mention chatbots.
- Start dates. Taken from each law’s text or official history. Where a law gives no date, we used the state’s standard start date.
- Sources. LegiScan bill records and texts; California Legislative Information; New York Governor’s office on AI companion rules; Morrison Foerster summary of the New York and California companion laws. Accessed Sept 29, 2026.
FAQ
Do I have to tell customers my website chat is a bot?
In Maine, yes, if a customer could reasonably think they are chatting with a real person. In Utah, yes, if a customer clearly asks. Licensed professionals in Utah must say it up front in higher-risk conversations. Most other states have no general rule yet, but telling people is the safe habit everywhere.
Does the new California chatbot law apply to small businesses?
No. AB 1609 only covers businesses with more than $500 million a year in revenue. It was signed on Sept 28, 2026, and starts Jan 1, 2027. It bars passing off a customer service bot as a human and requires a way to reach a real person during business hours.
What is a companion chatbot law?
It covers apps built to act like a friend, partner or confidant over time. These laws require reminders that the user is talking to AI, a plan for users who mention suicide or self-harm, and extra protections for kids. Most of them do not cover bots a business uses for customer service.
How many states have chatbot laws?
We verified 19 enacted chatbot laws in 15 states as of Sept 29, 2026. Lawmakers filed about 103 chatbot bills in 34 states in 2025 and 2026, based on our keyword review of state bill data.
Can I use AI in a therapy or counseling practice?
Be careful in Illinois, Nevada and Utah. Illinois and Nevada bar AI from providing therapy or being offered as mental health care. Admin uses like scheduling and notes are generally allowed. Utah has disclosure and data rules for mental health chatbots.