Regulating artificial intelligence companion chatbots (Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2225)

Record US-WA-01 · Chapter 168, Laws of 2026 (ESHB 2225); new chapter in Title 19 RCW

Issued by: Washington State Legislature (69th Legislature, 2026 Regular Session; requested by Governor Bob Ferguson); signed by Governor Ferguson
Jurisdiction: Washington (US)
Level · region: Sub-national · North America
Country: United States
Published / adopted: 2026-03-24
In force: 2027-01-01
Language: English
Official identifier: Chapter 168, Laws of 2026 (ESHB 2225); new chapter in Title 19 RCW

Summary

Requires operators of AI companion chatbots (human-like AI that sustains a relationship across interactions) to disclose that the chatbot is artificially generated and not human at the start of an interaction and at least every three hours, and to stop it claiming to be human. For known minors or chatbots directed to minors, the notice is hourly and operators must take reasonable measures against sexually explicit content and manipulative engagement such as romantic bonding, simulated distress at a user's leaving, isolation and solicited purchases. Operators must publish a self-harm protocol with crisis referrals and yearly referral counts. Enforced under the Consumer Protection Act.

Safety topics

child safetytransparency & labellingaccountability & liabilityhuman oversight

Status notes

Passed the House 74-21 (11 Mar 2026, concurring in Senate amendments) and the Senate 43-5 (6 Mar 2026); approved 24 Mar 2026, filed 25 Mar 2026; takes effect 1 Jan 2027. Companion bill SB 5984. Excludes operational customer-service bots, limited video-game bots, voice-assistant devices and narrowly tailored educational tools.

Sources

Open the official source https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2225&Year=2025&Initiative=false

Secondary source: https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/House/2225-S.SL.pdf

Local copy

Archived. A source changed since the previous snapshot; both versions are kept. Last attempt 2026-10-18 00:08:54 UTC

Official source (third-party copy, not published) archive/US-WA-01/2026-10-18/official.html

Retrieved 2026-10-18 00:09:00 UTC

SHA-256 25712cfde7d677b3c3413bea521262174c310dca65d3eb1c56b2dad5671f994d

Linked document (PDF) (third-party copy, not published) archive/US-WA-01/2026-10-11/document-1.pdf

Retrieved 2026-10-11 19:38:47 UTC

SHA-256 1a1911923e610be67aaa4cecc8659139533b21c3266a3979ff903ca0400767c4

Linked document (PDF) (third-party copy, not published) archive/US-WA-01/2026-10-11/document-2.pdf

Retrieved 2026-10-11 19:38:50 UTC

SHA-256 ea114c6ddf0b2b34b4cec44a2cabf8fe50ef5156726abaf90d9545fddcc6c927

Secondary source (third-party copy, not published) archive/US-WA-01/2026-10-11/secondary.pdf

Retrieved 2026-10-11 19:38:53 UTC

SHA-256 6378bfcdfa3ab031795e7fcca4e0cbf5aef6ce418b439daf8d37e74b85a8b449

Verification

The instrument's own official text, or an official register, was stored and confirms the title, date and status. checked 2026-10-18 · official-url-fetched

Recheck of 18 Oct 2026: re-read the Legislature's bill summary page for HB 2225 (stored again from app.leg.wa.gov on 17 Oct 2026; only the 'as of' time changed since 11 Oct 2026) and the certified session law, Chapter 168, Laws of 2026 (stored from lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov on 11 Oct 2026, the record's secondary source). The bill page confirms the title, the sponsors and the Governor's request, the votes, the Governor's signature on 24 Mar 2026, the chapter number and the effective date of 1 Jan 2027; the session law confirms the text of sections 1 to 9, the approval on 24 Mar 2026 and the filing on 25 Mar 2026.

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

History

2026-10-18summary: Requires operators of AI companion chatbots (systems that give adaptive, human-l → Requires operators of AI companion chatbots (human-like AI that sustains a relat — reworded to follow the session law: the minors' duties apply where the operator knows the user is a minor or the chatbot is directed to minors and require reasonable measures rather than an outright ban; 'guilt messaging' replaced by the Act's wording (simulated distress when a user wants to end a conversation), and the definition shortened to fit the length limit2026-10-18-recheck-americas-1 · Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5)

Related records

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

Oregon AI chatbot safety law (SB 1546) Oregon (US) · Adopted, not yet in force

Connecticut Public Act 26-15 (SB 5, AI and online safety) Connecticut (US) · Partially in force

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

Idaho Conversational AI Safety Act (SB 1297) Idaho (US) · Adopted, not yet in force

Hawaii AI companion law (SB 3001, Act 248) Hawaii (US) · In force

Citation

Washington State Legislature (69th Legislature, 2026 Regular Session; requested by Governor Bob Ferguson); signed by Governor Ferguson. Regulating artificial intelligence companion chatbots (Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2225) [Chapter 168, Laws of 2026 (ESHB 2225); new chapter in Title 19 RCW]. 2026-03-24. https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2225&Year=2025&Initiative=false. Status: Adopted, not yet in force; verified 2026-10-18 (level A). Local copy archive/US-WA-01/2026-10-18/official.html retrieved 2026-10-18 00:09:00 UTC, SHA-256 25712cfde7d677b3c3413bea521262174c310dca65d3eb1c56b2dad5671f994d. Every AI Policy Ever, version 1.18 (snapshot 2026-10-18), record US-WA-01.

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