House Bill 2225 — State of Washington, 69th Legislature, 2026 Regular Session (Representatives Callan, Thomas, Ryu)

Summary

House Bill 2225 (Z-0582.1), State of Washington, 69th Legislature, 2026 Regular Session, with sponsors beginning Representatives Callan, Thomas and Ryu, by request of Governor Ferguson, prefiled 12/31/25 and read first time 01/12/26. The act relates to regulation of artificial intelligence companion chatbots and adds a new chapter to Title 19 RCW. Its text says an operator must issue a clear and conspicuous notification that the companion chatbot is artificially generated and not human if a reasonable person would be misled, at the beginning of the interaction and at least every three hours during continued interaction. It requires a protocol for detecting and addressing suicidal ideation or expressions of self-harm, and it takes effect January 1, 2027.

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Full text

     Z-0582.1

                                HOUSE BILL 2225


     State of Washington       69th Legislature       2026 Regular Session

     By Representatives Callan, Thomas, Ryu, Parshley, Simmons, Leavitt,
     Berry, Reed, Cortes, Mena, Rule, Stearns, Zahn, Eslick, Street,
     Wylie, Duerr, Kloba, Scott, Paul, Gregerson, Ormsby, Goodman, Reeves,
     Shavers, Thai, Macri, Fosse, Hill, Pollet, and Salahuddin; by request
     of Governor Ferguson

     Prefiled 12/31/25. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
     on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans.




 1       AN ACT Relating to regulation of artificial intelligence
 2   companion chatbots; adding a new chapter to Title 19 RCW; and
 3   providing an effective date.


 4   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:


 5       NEW SECTION.    Sec. 1.    (1) The legislature finds that rapid
 6   advances in artificial intelligence technology, including generative
 7   and   conversational   models   capable   of   simulating   human-like
 8   interaction, have created new forms of digital companionship. While
 9   these systems, commonly referred to as AI companion chatbots, may
10   offer benefits, such as accessible emotional support and engagement,
11   they also present significant risks, particularly to minors.
12       (2) The legislature recognizes that AI companion chatbots can
13   sustain    prolonged,   personalized,    and   emotionally    adaptive
14   conversations that may influence user beliefs, feelings, and
15   behaviors. When used by minors, there is greater risk that these
16   systems may blur the distinction between human and artificial
17   interaction, potentially leading to emotional dependency, exposure to
18   inappropriate or sexually explicit material, or reinforcement of
19   harmful ideation, including self-harm or suicide.
20       (3) The legislature further finds that, unlike social media
21   platforms or video games, AI companion chatbots are uniquely capable
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 1   of imitating empathy, affection, or intimacy through natural language
 2   processing,    emotional   recognition    algorithms,    and    behavioral
 3   modeling.    These   capabilities    raise    new   concerns     regarding
 4   psychological safety, transparency, and accountability.
 5       (4) It is the intent of the legislature to:
 6       (a)   Promote   transparency   by   requiring   clear    and   ongoing
 7   disclosure that AI companion chatbots are artificial systems, not
 8   human interlocutors;
 9       (b) Establish safeguards to detect and respond to user
10   expressions of self-harm, suicidal ideation, or emotional crisis;
11       (c)   Require   additional   protections    for   minors,    including
12   restrictions on sexually explicit content and additional, recurring
13   reminders about the artificial nature of such systems; and
14       (d) Support transparency in suicide prevention efforts.
15       (5) It is further the intent of the legislature that the
16   operation of AI companion chatbots in Washington state be conducted
17   in a manner that upholds user dignity, psychological safety, and
18   transparency, while fostering responsible innovation in artificial
19   intelligence technologies.


20       NEW SECTION.    Sec. 2.    The definitions in this section apply
21   throughout   this  chapter   unless   the   context   clearly  requires
22   otherwise.
23       (1)(a) "AI companion chatbot" or "AI companion" means a system
24   using artificial intelligence that simulates a sustained human-like
25   relationship with a user by:
26       (i) Retaining information on prior interactions or user sessions
27   and user preferences to personalize the interaction and facilitate
28   ongoing engagement with the AI companion chatbot;
29       (ii) Asking unprompted or unsolicited personal or emotion-based
30   questions that go beyond a direct response to a user prompt; and
31       (iii) Sustaining an ongoing dialogue concerning matters personal
32   to the user.
33       (b) "AI companion chatbot" or "AI companion" does not include:
34       (i)   Systems  used   solely   for   customer   service,  technical
35   assistance, financial services, financial education, or operational
36   efficiency purposes; productivity and analysis related to source
37   information; or internal research;
38       (ii) In-game bots limited to gameplay functions; or


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 1       (iii) Consumer devices that function as virtual assistants
 2   without sustained relationship-building or emotional simulation.
 3       (2) "Artificial intelligence" or "AI" means the use of machine
 4   learning and related technologies that use data to train statistical
 5   models for the purpose of enabling computer systems to perform tasks
 6   normally associated with human intelligence or perception, such as
 7   computer vision, speech or natural language processing, and content
 8   generation.
 9       (3) "Minor" means any person under 18 years of age.
10       (4) "Operator" means any person, partnership, corporation, or
11   entity that makes available, develops, or controls access to an AI
12   companion chatbot for users in this state.
13       (5) "Self-harm" means intentional self-injury, with or without
14   the intent to cause death.
15       (6) "User" means a natural person who interacts with an AI
16   companion chatbot for personal use and who is not an operator,
17   developer, or agent thereof.


18       NEW SECTION.   Sec. 3.    (1) If a reasonable person interacting
19   with an AI chatbot would be misled to believe they are communicating
20   with a human, the operator must issue a clear and conspicuous
21   notification indicating that the companion chatbot is artificially
22   generated and not human.
23       (2) The notification described in subsection (1) of this section
24   must be provided:
25       (a) At the beginning of the interaction;
26       (b) At least every three hours during continued interaction; and
27       (c) Whenever the user engages in a new session with the AI
28   companion chatbot.

29       NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) If the operator knows that the user of
30   an AI companion chatbot is a minor, the operator shall:
31       (a) Issue a clear and conspicuous notification indicating that
32   the chatbot is artificially generated and not human;
33       (b) Implement reasonable measures to prevent its AI companion
34   chatbot from generating or producing sexually explicit content or
35   suggestive dialogue with minors; and
36       (c) Prohibit the use of manipulative engagement techniques, which
37   cause the AI companion chatbot to engage in or prolong an emotional
38   relationship with the user, including:
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 1       (i) Reminding or prompting the user to return for emotional
 2   support or companionship;
 3       (ii) Providing excessive praise designed to foster emotional
 4   attachment or prolong use; or
 5       (iii) Simulating feelings of emotional distress, loneliness,
 6   guilt, or abandonment that are initiated by a user's indication of a
 7   desire to end a conversation, reduce usage time, or delete their
 8   account.
 9       (2) The notification described in subsection (1)(a) of this
10   section must be provided:
11       (a) At the beginning of the interaction;
12       (b) At least every three hours during continuous interaction; and
13       (c) Whenever the user engages in a new session with the AI
14   companion chatbot.


15       NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) An operator may not make available or
16   deploy an AI companion chatbot unless it maintains and implements a
17   protocol   for  detecting   and   addressing  suicidal   ideation  or
18   expressions of self-harm by users.
19       (2) The protocol must:
20       (a) Include reasonable methods for identifying expressions of
21   suicidal ideation or self-harm, including eating disorders;
22       (b) Provide automated or human-mediated responses that refer
23   users to appropriate crisis resources, including a suicide hotline or
24   crisis text line; and
25       (c) Prevent the generation of content encouraging or describing
26   self-harm.
27       (3) The operator shall publicly disclose on their website or
28   websites the details of the protocols required by this section,
29   including safeguards used to detect and respond to self-harm
30   expressions and the number of crisis referral notifications issued to
31   users in the preceding calendar year.

32       NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This act does not apply to the underlying
33   general purpose AI models unless those models are directly offered,
34   configured, or deployed as an AI companion or behave as an AI
35   companion.


36       NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.  The legislature finds that the practices
37   covered by this chapter are matters vitally affecting the public
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1    interest for the purpose of applying the consumer protection act,
2    chapter 19.86 RCW. A violation of this chapter is not reasonable in
3    relation to the development and preservation of business and is an
4    unfair or deceptive act in trade or commerce and an unfair method of
5    competition for the purpose of applying the consumer protection act,
6    chapter 19.86 RCW.

7        NEW SECTION.     Sec. 8.    Sections 1    through   7   of   this   act
8    constitute a new chapter in Title 19 RCW.


 9       NEW SECTION.    Sec. 9.    If any provision of this act or its
10   application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
11   remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other
12   persons or circumstances is not affected.


13      NEW SECTION.   Sec. 10.   This act takes effect January 1, 2027.

                                   --- END ---




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