Weekly Updates

Oregon & Washington: What Counts as a Companion Chatbot?

Volume 92, sent March 13, 2026. The Pacific Northwest has been active on companion chatbot legislation, with lawmakers in both Oregon and Washington recently passing legislation requiring safety measures for users. Following reports of users taking tragic actions after interactions with companion chatbots, state lawmakers have made the issue a top priority this session. But these new bills illustrate the challenges in crafting a bill without creating an overly broad scope that interferes with other chatbot uses. Read more.

Connecticut's AI Regulation: A More Targeted Third Attempt

Volume 91, sent March 6, 2026. Connecticut Sen. James Maroney (D) has been an outspoken advocate for artificial intelligence regulation. Yet Connecticut has failed to pass comprehensive AI legislation in each of the last two legislative sessions. Is the third time a charm? Lawmakers have drafted a new bill in Connecticut that scales back many of the regulatory obligations on developers and deployers, reflecting a new political reality, but will it be enough to gain the support of a skeptical governor needed for enactment? Read more.

How States Are Managing AI in Schools

Volume 90, sent February 27, 2026. Generative AI has rapidly infiltrated classrooms across the country, with students using AI tools to draft essays and complete assignments, and teachers increasingly turning to AI for lesson planning, grading assistance, and classroom materials. Yet as these tools become embedded in daily instruction, policymakers have concluded that widespread use requires structure, guardrails, and clear expectations. Read more.

Beyond Deepfakes: States Regulate Digital Replicas

Volume 89, sent February 20, 2026. State lawmakers are shifting their focus from regulating AI deepfakes to establishing comprehensive frameworks for commercially authorized digital replicas. When states first addressed AI two years ago, many quickly enacted political and sexual deepfake legislation. Now, lawmakers are turning to digital replica regulation, primarily by expanding name, image, and likeness protections in right of publicity laws. This year's legislative activity centers on extending post-mortem rights and introducing novel provisions, such as takedown requirements and mandatory legal counsel, that merit close attention. Read more.

States Weigh the Question: When AI Causes Harm, Who Pays?

Volume 88, sent February 13, 2026. When Air Canada’s customer service chatbot told a grieving passenger he could book a flight at full price and later claim a bereavement discount, it sounded authoritative. It was also wrong. The airline refused to honor the refund, arguing the chatbot was a “separate legal entity” responsible for its own words. A Canadian tribunal disagreed and held the airline liable for the bot’s misstatements, rejecting the idea that companies can outsource accountability to code. That case has quickly become a real-world touchstone for lawmakers grappling with a deceptively simple question: when AI systems cause harm, who pays? Read more.

State Lawmakers Tackle the AI Data Pipeline

Volume 87, sent February 6, 2026. One month into the legislative year, artificial intelligence has emerged as one of the most active policy areas in state capitols. Rather than pursuing sweeping AI framework bills, lawmakers are zeroing in on practical questions that directly affect how AI systems are built, trained, deployed, and commercialized. This focus has led to increased scrutiny on the datasets used by AI models, who is sharing data with those models, and what protections are needed for the data they produce. Read more.