Senate Bill 1297 (2026): Conversational AI Safety Act

Record US-ID-01 · SB 1297 (2026)

Issued by: Idaho Legislature (2026 session)
Jurisdiction: Idaho (US)
Level · region: Sub-national · North America
Country: United States
Published / adopted: 2026-03-31
In force: 2027-07-01
Language: English
Official identifier: SB 1297 (2026)

Summary

Requires operators of conversational AI chatbots to tell users the service is AI and to adopt protocols for responding to suicidal ideation or self-harm. For minor users (under 18), operators may not use addictive reward systems to encourage engagement, must prevent the chatbot from generating sexually explicit material, making sexual suggestions or sexually objectifying the minor, and must keep it from statements that could mislead minors into thinking it is human, including statements simulating emotional dependence or role-playing adult-minor relationships. Operators must provide tools for minors and parents to manage privacy settings, with special provisions for users under 13.

Safety topics

child safetytransparency & labellingaccountability & liabilityhuman oversight

Status notes

Enacted on 31 Mar 2026 with an effective date of 1 Jul 2027. Nebraska LB 525 of 2026, the Conversational Artificial Intelligence Safety Act, sets similar duties toward minors and takes effect on the same date.

Sources

Secondary source: https://www.transparencycoalition.ai/news/watershed-year-for-chatbot-safety-measures-14-new-state-laws-enacted-so-far-in-2026

Local copy

Partial (secondary source only). No official URL is recorded; only the secondary source was saved. Last attempt 2026-10-18 00:09:07 UTC

Secondary source (third-party copy, not published) archive/US-ID-01/2026-10-16/secondary.html

Retrieved 2026-10-16 11:39:43 UTC

SHA-256 6a71c72263bc3df4ca903228a9ff970b41efee5844493430a6124022738e8584

Verification

Not confirmed on an official page; the record rests on secondary sources. Check it before citing. checked 2026-10-18 · search-confirmed

CAUTION: no official copy is stored. Recheck of 18 Oct 2026: the only stored source is the Transparency Coalition's tracker of 2026 state chatbot-safety laws (stored again 16 Oct 2026). It confirms the bill number and name, enactment on 31 Mar 2026, the 1 Jul 2027 effective date and the duties described in the summary, so title, date and status rest on a secondary source. legislature.idaho.gov refused connections on 11, 12 and 14 Oct 2026, and in this recheck the bill page for S1297, the amended bill text (S1297E1.pdf) and the Idaho Code chapter (Title 48, chapter 22) all timed out again. Tracker and news pages seen during this recheck, not stored, give the bill as Session Law Chapter 249 and describe Attorney General enforcement with civil penalties, no private right of action and a ban on presenting the service as professional mental or behavioural health care; these, the earlier summary's penalty figures (USD 1,000 per violation, USD 500,000 cap), the votes and the Governor's signature rest on unstored sources and are left out until an official copy is stored. The tracker names the sponsor as 'Green'; a KIVI-TV report seen earlier says Sen. Ben Toews presented the bill in committee.

Second check: Independent check by Claude Code (claude-sonnet-5-5), 2026-10-18: 7 field(s) supported.

History

2026-10-18notes: Reported passed by the Senate 21-12 on 19 Mar 2026 and by the House 54-12, and s → Enacted on 31 Mar 2026 with an effective date of 1 Jul 2027. Nebraska LB 525 of — rewritten: the votes and signature rest on unstored sources, and the closing remark ('the enrolled text should be checked') was research-process wording2026-10-18-recheck-americas-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
2026-10-18summary: Requires operators of publicly accessible conversational AI services to disclose → Requires operators of conversational AI chatbots to tell users the service is AI — trimmed to what the stored tracker supports and the hedge removed: Attorney General enforcement, the USD 1,000 / USD 500,000 penalties ('reported at'), the three-hour disclaimer and the mental-health representation ban rest on unstored sources; the minors' duties the tracker describes are spelled out2026-10-18-recheck-americas-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
2026-10-18official_identifier: S 1297 (2026 Regular Session, 68th Idaho Legislature) → SB 1297 (2026) — '68th Idaho Legislature' is in no stored file; reduced to the bill number the tracker gives2026-10-18-recheck-americas-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)
2026-10-18issuing_body: Idaho Legislature (2026 Regular Session); signed by Governor Brad Little → Idaho Legislature (2026 session) — 'signed by Governor Brad Little' and 'Regular Session' are in no stored file; reduced to what the stored tracker supports2026-10-18-recheck-americas-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)

Related records

Nebraska Conversational AI Safety Act (LB 525) Nebraska (US) · Adopted, not yet in force

Washington AI companion chatbot law (HB 2225) Washington (US) · Adopted, not yet in force

California SB 243 (companion chatbots) California (US) · In force

Iowa conversational AI services law (SF 2417) Iowa (US) · Adopted, not yet in force

Georgia AI companion chatbot law (SB 540) Georgia (US) · Adopted, not yet in force

Citation

Idaho Legislature (2026 session). Senate Bill 1297 (2026): Conversational AI Safety Act [SB 1297 (2026)]. 2026-03-31. Status: Adopted, not yet in force; verified 2026-10-18 (level C). Local copy archive/US-ID-01/2026-10-16/secondary.html retrieved 2026-10-16 11:39:43 UTC, SHA-256 6a71c72263bc3df4ca903228a9ff970b41efee5844493430a6124022738e8584. Every AI Policy Ever, version 1.18 (snapshot 2026-10-18), record US-ID-01.

Improve this record

Know of an amendment, a status change or an error? Report news or an error on GitHub; the form opens with this record filled in.