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)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
Commencement not set.
An AI sector rules rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureNo
Private right of actionNo
What it reaches
How the hook was established
express
What makes it apply
Operator establishment, Market targeting
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
- 21 September 2026
- Provision
- H 7349 Sub A § 40.1-5.5-3(a)
- Trigger
- consent_or_optout
Who checks it
Audit expectation
none
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
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's own text states it takes effect upon passage.
Contemporaneous Rhode Island state-policy reporting (Rhode Island Current, Route Fifty) describes the act as signed by Governor Dan McKee in June 2026, but the exact signing date and session-law chapter number are not confirmed in a primary session-law record.
When LexLint raises it
deploys_chatbotgenerates_contenthigh_risk_decisions
Read the law
House Substitute A bill text, Rhode Island General Assembly (webserver.rilegislature.gov)
reported signed into law by contemporaneous Rhode Island state-policy journalism, not independently confirmed against an enrolled act or session-law chapter
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.