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H7350Aaa
2026 -- H 7350 SUBSTITUTE A AS AMENDED
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LC004590/SUB A
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
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A N A C T
RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS --
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COMPANION MODELS
Introduced By:
Representatives Spears, Carson, Messier, Speakman, Shanley, McEntee,
Date Introduced:
January 28, 2026
Referred To:
House Innovation, Internet, & Technology
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
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SECTION 1. Title 6 of the General Laws entitled "COMMERCIAL LAW — GENERAL
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REGULATORY PROVISIONS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:
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CHAPTER 63
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COMPANION MODELS
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6-63-1. Definitions.
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As used in this chapter:
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(1)(i) "AI companion" means a system using artificial intelligence, generative artificial
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intelligence, and/or emotional recognition algorithms to simulate a sustained human or human-like
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relationship with a user by:
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(A) Retaining information on prior interactions or user sessions and user preferences to
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personalize the interaction and facilitate ongoing engagement with the AI companion;
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(B) Asking unprompted or unsolicited emotion-based questions that go beyond a direct
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response to a user prompt; and
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(C) Sustaining an ongoing dialogue concerning matters personal to the user.
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(ii)"AI companion" shall not include:
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(A) Any system used by a business entity solely for customer service or to strictly provide
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users with information about available commercial services or products provided by such entity,
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customer service account information, or other information strictly related to its customer service;
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(B) Any system that is primarily designed and marketed for providing efficiency
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improvements or research or technical assistance; or
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(C) Any system used by a business entity solely for internal purposes or employee
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productivity.
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(2) "AI model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial
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intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to
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produce outputs from a given set of inputs.
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(3) "Artificial intelligence", "artificial intelligence technology", or "AI" means a machine-
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based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions,
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recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments.
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(4) "Emotional recognition algorithms" means artificial intelligence that detects and
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interprets human emotional signals in text (using natural language processing and sentiment
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analysis), audio (using voice emotion AI), video (using facial movement analysis, gait analysis, or
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physiological signals), or a combination thereof.
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(5) "Generative artificial intelligence" means a class of AI models that are self-supervised
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and emulate the structure and characteristics of input data to generate derived synthetic content
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including, but not limited to, images, videos, audio, text, and other digital content.
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(6) "Operator" means any person, partnership, association, firm, or business entity, or any
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member, affiliate, subsidiary or beneficial owner of any partnership, association, firm, or business
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entity who operates or provides an AI companion.
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(7) "Person" means any natural person.
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(8) "User" means any person who uses an AI companion within the state and who is not an
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operator or agent or affiliate of the operator of the AI companion.
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6-63-2. Prohibitions and requirements.
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(a) It shall be unlawful for any operator to operate or provide an AI companion to a user
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unless such AI companion contains a protocol for addressing:
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(1) Possible suicidal ideation or self-harm expressed by a user to the AI companion;
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(2) Possible physical harm to others expressed by a user to the AI companion; and
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(3) When any of those expressions are made, a notification shall be provided to the user
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that refers them to crisis service providers such as a suicide hotline, crisis text line, or other
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appropriate crisis services as soon as any of those expressions are detected.
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(b) Beginning July 1, 2027, operators shall file annual reports with the office of the attorney
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general which shall include the number of safety protocol activations and related metrics. The office
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of the attorney general shall publish aggregated data on its website.
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6-63-3. Notifications required.
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An operator shall provide a clear and conspicuous notification to a user at the beginning of
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any AI companion interaction and at least every three (3) hours for continuing AI companion
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interactions hereafter, which states either verbally or in writing that the user is not communicating
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with a human.
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6-63-4. Enforcement.
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(a) The attorney general shall be empowered to enforce this chapter, including the power
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to investigate, sue, and seek injunctions against noncompliant AI companion operators for
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violations of this chapter.
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(b) Violations of this chapter may result in civil penalties up to fifteen thousand dollars
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($15,000) per day, with fines directed to suicide prevention programs.
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6-63-5. Severability.
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If any provision of this chapter is declared unconstitutional or invalid, or the application of
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any provision of this chapter to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the constitutionality of
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the remainder of the chapter and its applicability to other persons and circumstances shall not be
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affected thereby.
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SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS --
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COMPANION MODELS
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This act would create additional safety features for artificial intelligence (AI) companion
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technology including provisions addressing suicidal ideation, potential physical harm or financial
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harm to others expressed by a user. The act also requires notification that the AI companion does
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not have human emotions.
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This act would take effect on January 1, 2027.
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