Chatbot Laws · verified Oct. 21, 2026
Operators of AI companions must publish a suicide, self-harm and violence protocol, take steps against claiming to be human, and disclose AI status. For users known or suspected to be minors they must block romantic content, manipulative engagement tactics and unlicensed mental health services, and offer parental tools.
Who must comply
Operators that provide an AI companion to users in Connecticut. Excluded: chatbots used only for business, customer-service, care-facility, education or financial purposes and not marketed as companions; game-limited bots; voice-assistant speakers; narrow school and health-care tools; narrow task tools; and model developers who do not set the deployment (§ 4).
What it requires
| AI disclosure | If a reasonable person could think they are talking to a human, the operator must give a clear notice of AI status, either static and visible throughout, or at the start of the first interaction in any 24 hours and repeated during continuous use.When: Start of first interaction each 24 hours, then hourly for under 18 or every 3 hours for 18+§ 5(b) |
|---|---|
| Minors | For users the operator knows or has reason to believe are under 18, the companion must be kept from encouraging self-harm, violence or substance use, discouraging help from professionals or adults, romantic or sexual interaction, and manipulative engagement tactics. Parents get screen-time and account tools.§ 6(a)-(b) |
| Crisis protocol | Operator must use evidence-based methods to detect clear risk of suicide, self-harm or imminent violence and to prevent outputs encouraging them, refer users to resources including 988, refer again to mental health services on repeat expressions, and post the protocol on its website.§ 5(a) |
| Design limits | Operator must take reasonable steps to stop the companion claiming to be human, including when asked, or contradicting a disclosure that it is not human.§ 5(a)(1)(B) |
| Therapy and licensed titles | For known or suspected minors, mental health services may be offered only if the companion is built for them, uses clinical best practices, shows at the start of each interaction that it is not a licensed mental health professional, and is not marketed as a substitute.§ 6(a)(1)(B) |
Enforcement
| Enforced by | Attorney General§§ 5(c), 6(c) |
|---|---|
| Private lawsuits | No |
| Penalties | Violation is an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (Gen. Stat. § 42-110b(a)); the Attorney General enforces exclusively. No dollar amount is stated in these sections. |
Key dates
- AI companion safety, disclosure and minor protections (§§ 4-6) take effect
Sources
- SB 5 (2026) bill status, Connecticut General Assembly Supports: Public Act number; transmitted to Governor May 14, 2026; signed May 27, 2026.
- Public Act 26-15, Connecticut General Assembly Supports: Text of §§ 4-6 and their January 1, 2027 effective dates.
- Governor's press release, June 2, 2026 Supports: Public Act 26-15; signing announced; suicide-detection duty.