State lawmakers introduced 1,208 AI-related bills in 2025, with 144 enacted into law, up from 634 introductions and 99 laws in 2024. California and New York passed headline AI safety laws requiring frontier model developers to draft safety reports. Deepfake restrictions dominated with 67 laws (46%), while 28 laws (20%) mandated private sector compliance. California leads with 38 total AI actions.

Governor Hochul signed New York's RAISE Act in December 2025 after negotiating significant changes with lawmakers, aligning the legislation with California's AI safety law. The final version requires frontier AI developers to submit safety reports to the Department of Financial Services, with enhanced requirements for companies exceeding $500 million in revenue. Civil penalties were reduced from $10-30 million to $1-3 million, effective 2027.

State AI legislation increasingly focuses on defining "developers" to regulate AI systems at their source. Colorado's enacted law and California's new Transparency in Frontier AI Act target entities that train or substantially modify AI systems. California distinguishes "large frontier developers" with over $500 million revenue, requiring risk management frameworks. New York's pending RAISE Act uses compute thresholds exceeding $100 million to identify regulated developers.

States are increasingly regulating algorithmic pricing as retailers use AI to set individualized prices based on personal data. Thirteen states introduced surveillance pricing bills this year, with New York and California enacting new laws. New York requires disclosure notices for algorithm-set prices using personal data, while California prohibits common pricing algorithms using competitor data in anticompetitive agreements. Washington also banned algorithmic rent-setting tools using nonpublic competitor information.

Congressional Republicans and President Trump are pushing federal preemption of state AI laws through the defense bill and a planned executive order. Of 136 state AI laws enacted in 2025, only 26 mandate private-sector compliance, with most narrowly focused on specific harms like deepfakes and healthcare chatbots. California's SB 53 requires reporting from large AI developers. Seventeen Republican governors and 260 state lawmakers oppose preemption, calling it federal overreach.

States are taking varied approaches to AI regulation, with California targeting large developers and Colorado's law (effective June 2026) focusing on "high-risk" systems used by "deployers" making consequential decisions in sectors like employment, housing, and healthcare. Most states now use OECD's 2019 AI definition as baseline. Colorado lawmakers delayed implementation to negotiate changes removing onerous deployer provisions for heightened transparency requirements instead.

After Governor Newsom vetoed California's restrictive AI chatbot bill (AB 1064) and signed a narrower alternative (SB 243), Common Sense Media filed the California Kids AI Safety Act as a 2026 ballot measure. The proposal would prohibit harmful chatbots for minors, establish a four-tier AI risk classification system, require safety audits, create private rights of action with damages up to $1 million per child, and mandate school smartphone bans by July 2027.

California led 2025 AI legislation, considering 48 bills and enacting several major measures. Gov. Newsom signed SB 53, requiring developers of AI models costing $100+ million to train to implement safety policies and designate officers. The state finalized automated decision-making regulations and first-in-the-nation AI employment discrimination rules. Nationally, all 50 states now have laws or proposals addressing sexual deepfakes, with 20 states criminalizing AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed CA SB 53 into law, requiring developers of large AI "frontier models" to implement safety frameworks—the first such proactive requirement. The California Privacy Protection Agency issued final automated decision-making regulations allowing consumer opt-outs for significant decisions. Ten AI bills await Newsom's decision by October 12, including SB 7 ("No Robo Bosses Act") regulating AI employment decisions, while workplace AI discrimination regulations take effect October 1.

Last week, the California Legislature wrapped up its 2025 legislative session, but not before passing several AI-related bills, including a major AI safety bill aimed at AI model developers (CA SB 53). Known as the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act (TFAIA), Senator Scott Wiener’s (D) measure is designed to protect against catastrophic risk posed by certain “frontier” AI models. If signed into law, it could provide a template for other states to follow.

As California’s legislative session winds down, attention is once again on the Golden State to see whether it will maintain its leadership role in regulating emerging tech issues like artificial intelligence. Dozens of proposals were axed last week, but many key measures remain under consideration as lawmakers enter the final stretch. The surviving AI bills cover a wide range of priorities, from regulating foundation models and algorithmic pricing to protecting children from harmful chatbot interactions.

In 2024, Colorado became the first state in the nation to enact a broad algorithmic discrimination law with SB 205. The law aimed to place guardrails on the growing use of artificial intelligence by requiring developers and deployers of “high-risk” systems to use reasonable care to prevent algorithmic discrimination and to conduct impact assessments when AI systems were used in consequential decisions. But even upon signing the bill, Gov. Jared Polis (D) acknowledged that changes would have to be made before the bill took effect in February of 2026. Colorado lawmakers were unable to find a solution earlier this year and will redouble their efforts during a special session, hoping to revise the law to mitigate potential harms while also allowing AI to flourish as an industry.

Despite lawmakers in all 50 states considering 1,080 AI-related bills this year, only 118 became law (less than 11%). Deepfake legislation dominated, with 68 of 301 introduced bills enacted, primarily targeting sexual deepfakes. Texas led state AI governance efforts, passing multiple bills including establishing an AI Division and requiring employee training. Healthcare AI regulation saw limited success with 9 of 83 bills enacted across various states.

Senator Scott Wiener introduced amendments to SB 53, creating the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, requiring large AI developers to publish detailed safety protocols and transparency reports. Unlike last year's vetoed SB 1047, the new bill removes liability provisions while mandating reporting of catastrophic risks to California's Attorney General within 15 days and establishing "CalCompute" public computing infrastructure.

The Congressional budget reconciliation bill includes a controversial ten-year freeze on state AI regulation, tied to $500 million in broadband funding after Senate revisions. The moratorium would block comprehensive state AI laws like Colorado's 2024 regulation, use-case restrictions, and AI-specific privacy provisions. Bipartisan opposition includes 40 state attorneys general and Republican senators citing states' rights concerns, threatening the provision's survival.

Before it adjourned this week, the New York Legislature passed an important AI safety bill — the RAISE Act — through both chambers last Thursday. Unlike the algorithmic discrimination bills that have proliferated this year, which place requirements on any organization using AI tools, New York’s RAISE Act is an AI safety bill, placing requirements on the developers of the most powerful AI models.

The Texas Legislature approved the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA), an AI regulation bill that is much scaled-down from the ambitious “red state model” bill sponsor Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R) originally proposed. While the bill does impose limited guardrails and transparency measures, it is a retreat from robust regulation, a victory for industry groups wary of new compliance burdens, and a reflection of the political headwinds facing AI legislation across the country. The governor has until June 22, 2025, to decide whether to sign the bill into law.

This year, several states introduced large comprehensive consumer protection AI bills, many of which have been substantially amended or failed to see much movement. However, states have also introduced smaller, more targeted AI legislation that addresses certain topics such as insurance, renting, and employment. But even these more targeted AI bills appear to be struggling to make it through the legislative process, with only a few making it to a governor’s desk. 

As image, video, and voice generation technology progresses, more emphasis will be placed on potential abuses, namely deepfakes. State lawmakers have already responded by enacting over 100 laws related to deepfakes — by far the most popular AI-related regulation across the country. And this month, Congress joined the party when President Trump signed the TAKE IT DOWN Act into federal law. 

The Connecticut Senate has passed a stripped-down version of Sen. James Maroney’s (D) comprehensive AI bill (CT SB 2). This is the second attempt at a comprehensive AI bill pushed by Sen. Maroney after his bill last year failed to gain the support of Gov. Ned Lamont (D) after also gaining approval in the Senate. The amendments this week further reflect how momentum has shifted against the regulation of AI nationwide, and how even advocates are acknowledging a new political reality.