Law / United States / 
Rhode Island
Oversight of Artificial Intelligence Technology in Mental Health Care Act
R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 40.1-5.5-1 to 40.1-5.5-6 (H 7349, Substitute A, 2026 Regular Session)
In force since .
An AI sector rules rule binding public and private bodies.
- Criminal exposure
- No
- Private right of action
- No
- How the hook was established
- express
- What makes it apply
- Operator establishment, Market targeting
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Do not offer therapy or psychotherapy services to the public in Rhode Island, including through internet-based AI, unless a state-licensed professional or provider conducts them.NIST AI RMFMAP 3.3
- If you are a licensed provider, use AI only for administrative or supplementary support with reasonable clinical oversight; never let it make independent therapeutic decisions, conduct therapeutic communication directly with a client absent an established provider relationship, or determine treatment plans.NIST AI RMFMAP 3.3
- Where an AI companion or emotional-support tool assists with a recorded or transcribed therapy session, tell the patient (or their representative) in writing what the tool is for and obtain their consent before using it.NIST AI RMFMEASURE 2.8NIST AI RMFMAP 1.6
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
In the frameworks
- NIST AI RMF
- MAP 1.6System requirements (e.g., “the system shall respect the privacy of its users”) are elicited from and understood by relevant AI actors. Design decisions take socio-technical implications into account to address AI risks.
- MAP 3.3Targeted application scope is specified and documented based on the system’s capability, established context, and AI system categorization.
- MEASURE 2.8Risks associated with transparency and accountability – as identified in the MAP function – are examined and documented.
Our reading of where this law's duties sit in each framework, and in the NIST AI RMF, line by line beside each duty above. It never says that running a control meets the law. How we read a framework against the law
What it makes you log
What the log must hold
Disclosure shown, Consent or opt-out state
Logging duty
The subsection requires written informed consent before an AI companion or emotional-attachment tool may assist a recorded or transcribed therapy session, and consent is itself defined as a written agreement, so the duty cannot be discharged without a record capable of showing the disclosure was made and the consent given. The chapter states no retention period for that record.
- Kind
- Implicit
- As of
- Provision
- H 7349 Sub A § 40.1-5.5-3(a)
- Trigger
- consent_or_optout
What this law does
This act bars any individual, corporation, or entity from offering therapy or psychotherapy services in Rhode Island, including through internet-based AI, unless the services are conducted by a state-licensed professional or provider.
A licensed provider may use AI only for administrative or supplementary support (scheduling, billing, records, drafting logistics communications, tracking client progress subject to professional review), and never to make independent therapeutic decisions, conduct therapeutic communication directly with a client without an established provider relationship, or determine treatment plans.
Where a client's session is recorded or transcribed and an AI system simulating emotional attachment or bonding assists with supplementary support or therapeutic communication, the patient or their representative must be informed in writing and consent. The act was enacted on as Public Law 2026, chapter 373. Its own text provides that it takes effect upon passage.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app generates content with AI, makes health care decisions or deploys a mental-health chatbot.
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