Law / United States / 
Washington
AI companion chatbot disclosure and safety act
1st Sub. H.B. 2225, ch. 168, Laws of 2026 (new chapter, Title 19 RCW)
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.
In force in 100 days, effective 1 January 2027.
An AI transparency rule binding private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- This law is enacted but does not take effect until 2027-01-01; what follows applies from that date.
- If you operate an AI companion chatbot, disclose clearly and conspicuously that it is artificial and not human at the start of an interaction, at least every three hours during continued interaction, and at the start of every new session.
- If you know the user is a minor, disclose proactively, take reasonable measures to prevent the chatbot from generating sexually explicit content or suggestive dialogue with them, and do not use manipulative engagement techniques designed to prolong an emotional attachment.
- Maintain protocols to detect and respond to expressions of self-harm or suicidal ideation, including referral to crisis resources, and publicly report on those protocols annually.
- A violation is treated as an unfair or deceptive act under the Consumer Protection Act rather than punished under a separate penalty scheme.
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionYes
What it reaches
How the hook was established
express
What makes it apply
User location
What it makes you log
Who may demand the log
Public
Logging duty
The act's disclosure duties name no record. Section 5(3) requires an operator to publicly disclose the number of crisis referral notifications issued to users in the preceding calendar year, a figure that cannot be stated without counting each notification as it is issued over the year.
- Kind
- Implicit
- As of
- 21 September 2026
- Provision
- Sec. 5(3)
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 law is enacted but does not take effect until January 1, 2027; what follows applies from that date. An operator of an AI companion chatbot, an AI system a reasonable person could mistake for a human conversational partner, must clearly and conspicuously disclose at the start of an interaction, at least every three hours during continued interaction, and at the start of every new session that the user is talking with an artificial system.
Where the operator knows the user is a minor, it must additionally disclose proactively, implement reasonable measures against sexually explicit or suggestive content, and prohibit manipulative engagement techniques designed to prolong an emotional attachment. An operator must also maintain protocols to detect and respond to expressions of self-harm or suicidal ideation, including crisis-resource referrals, and publicly report on those protocols annually.
A violation is enforced as an unfair or deceptive act under the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW, rather than through a standalone penalty.
When LexLint raises it
deploys_chatbotserves_minors
Read the law
enrolled bill text and bill history, Washington State Legislature (app.leg.wa.gov)
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.