RELATING TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

HB2502

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2502

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to artificial intelligence
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

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SECTION 1.
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This Act shall be known and may be cited as the
"Artificial Intelligence Disclosure and Safety Act".

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SECTION
2.
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Chapter 481B, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part I to be appropriately
designated and to read as follows:

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"
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481B-
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Artificial intelligence; conversational artificial intelligence
services; disclosures; reports; penalties.
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(a)
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If a reasonable person
interacting with a conversational artificial intelligence service would be led
to believe that the person is interacting with a human, an operator shall issue
a clear and conspicuous notification indicating that the service is artificial
intelligence and not human.

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(b)
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If an operator has actual knowledge or
reasonable certainty that an account holder or user is a minor, the operator
shall clearly and conspicuously disclose to the minor account holder or user that
they are interacting with artificial intelligence:

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(1)
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As a persistent visible disclaimer;
or

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(2)
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Both:

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(A)
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At the beginning of each session;
and

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(B)
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Appearing at least every hour in a
continuous conversational artificial intelligence service interaction that
reminds the user to take a break from the chat and that the conversation is
artificially generated and not human.

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(c)
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An operator shall:

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(1)
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Adopt a protocol for the
conversational artificial intelligence service to respond to user prompts
regarding suicidal ideation or self-harm that includes but is not limited to
making reasonable efforts to provide a response to the user that refers them to
crisis service providers such as a suicide hotline, crisis text line, or other
appropriate crisis services;

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(2)
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Adopt
and maintain a protocol for preventing the production of suicidal ideation,
suicide, or self-harm content to the user, including by providing a
notification to the user that refers the user to crisis service providers;

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(3)
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Use
evidence-based methods for measuring suicidal ideation;

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(4)
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Not knowingly or intentionally cause
or program a conversational artificial intelligence service to make any
representation or statement that explicitly indicates that the service is designed
to provide professional mental or behavioral health care;

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(5)
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Disclose
to a user that the conversational artificial intelligence service may not be
suitable for minors; and

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(6)
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Notify
a user of the operator's duty of care and liability pursuant to this section.

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(d)
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Where an operator knows or has reasonable
certainty that an account holder or user is a minor, an operator shall:

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(1)
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Not provide the user with points or
similar rewards at unpredictable intervals with the intent to encourage
increased engagement with the conversational artificial intelligence service;

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(2)
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Institute reasonable measures to
prevent the conversational artificial intelligence service from:

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(A)
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Producing visual material of
sexually explicit conduct;

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(B)
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Generating direct statements that
the account holder should engage in sexually explicit conduct; or

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(C)
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Generating statements that sexually
objectify the account holder;

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(3)
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Institute reasonable measures to
prevent the conversational artificial intelligence service from generating
statements that would lead a reasonable person to believe that they are
interacting with a human, including:

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(A)
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Explicit claims that the service is
sentient or human;

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(B)
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Statements that simulate emotional
dependence; and

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(C)
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Statements that simulate romantic or
sexual innuendos; and

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(4)
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Offer tools to manage the minor account
holder's or user's privacy and account settings to:

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(A)
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The minor account holder or user;
and

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(B)
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The parent or guardian of the minor
account holder or user if the minor account holder or user is under sixteen
years of age;

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provided
that the operator shall also make the tools required by this paragraph
available to the parent or guardian of a minor account holder or user sixteen
years of age and above as appropriate based on relevant risks.

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(e)
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Beginning January 1, 2027, an operator shall
submit to the department of commerce and consumer affairs an annual report that
includes:

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(1)
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The
number of times an operator has issued a crisis service provider referral in
the preceding calendar year;

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(2)
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Protocols
put in place to detect, remove, and respond to instances of suicidal ideation
by users; and

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(3)
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Protocols
put in place to prohibit a chatbot response about suicidal ideation or actions
with the user;

provided
that the report shall only include the information listed in this subsection
and shall not include any identifiers or personal information about users.

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(f)
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Any violation of this section shall be
considered an unfair or deceptive act or practice under this chapter.

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(g)
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The attorney general may bring an action
based on a violation of this section to recover all of the following relief:

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(1)
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Injunctive relief;

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(2)
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Damages in an amount equal to the
greater of:

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(A)
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Actual damages; or

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(B)
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A civil penalty of $1,000 per
violation; provided that damages awarded under this subparagraph shall not
exceed $1,000,000 per operator; and

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(3)
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Reasonable
attorneys' fees and costs.

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(h)
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Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as creating a private right
of action to enforce this section or to support a private right of action under
any other law.

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(i)
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This section shall not create liability for
the developer of an artificial intelligence model for any violation of this
section by an artificial intelligence system developed by a third party to
provide a conversational artificial intelligence service.

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(j)
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The duties, remedies, and obligations imposed
by this section are cumulative to the duties, remedies, or obligations imposed
under other law and shall not be construed to relieve an operator from any
duties, remedies, or obligations imposed under any other law.

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(k)
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For the purposes of this section:

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"Account
holder" or "user" means a person who:

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(1)
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Has,
or generates, an account or profile to use a conversational artificial
intelligence service; or

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(2)
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Uses
a conversational artificial intelligence service as a guest or through a temporary
account without creating an account or profile.

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"Artificial
intelligence" means an engineered or machine‑based system that
varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit
objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can
influence physical or virtual environments.

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"Conversational
artificial intelligence service" or "service" means an
artificial intelligence software application, web interface, or computer
program, including any system that is integrated into or operates in
conjunction with another social media platform, application, web interface, or
computer program, that is accessible to the general public that primarily
simulates human conversation and interaction through textual, visual, or aural
communications.
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"Conversational
artificial intelligence service" does not include an application, web
interface, or computer program that:

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(1)
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Is primarily designed and marketed
for use by developers or researchers;

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(2)
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Is a feature within another software
application, web interface, or computer program that is not a conversational
artificial intelligence service;

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(3)
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Is designed to provide outputs
relating to a narrow and discrete topic;

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(4)
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Is primarily designed and marketed
for commercial use by business entities;

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(5)
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Functions as a speaker and voice
command interface or voice-activated virtual assistant for a consumer
electronic device; or

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(6)
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Is used by a business solely for
internal purposes.

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"Minor"
means any person under eighteen years of age.

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"Operator"
means a person who develops or makes available a conversational artificial
intelligence service to the public.
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"Operator" does not include mobile application stores or
search engines solely because the mobile application store or search engine
provides access to a conversational artificial intelligence service.

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"Sexually
explicit conduct" has the same meaning as defined in title 18 United
States Code section 2256.
"

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SECTION
3.
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If any provision of this Act, or the
application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the
invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act that can
be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end
the provisions of this Act are severable.

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SECTION
4.
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This Act does not affect rights and
duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were
begun before its effective date.

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SECTION
5.
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New statutory material is
underscored.

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SECTION 6.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

DCCA; AG;
Artificial Intelligence; Conversational Artificial Intelligence Services; Disclosures;
Suicide; Minors; Unfair or Deceptive Practices; Penalties; Reports

Description:

Requires
operators of conversational artificial intelligence services in the State to
issue certain disclosures to account holders and users.
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Requires operators to develop protocols to
prevent the production of suicidal ideations in account holders and users.
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Establishes protections for minor account
holders of conversational artificial intelligence services.
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Beginning January 1, 2027, requires operators
to submit annual reports to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
containing certain information.
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Allows the
Department of the Attorney General to bring a civil action against operators
who violate certain requirements and establishes statutory penalties.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.