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HB2225 • 2026
Concerning regulation of artificial intelligence companion chatbots.
This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.
Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.
AI companion chatbots
These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.
1716 • Callan
Plain English: 2225-S AMH CALL H3569.1 SHB 2225 - H AMD 1716 By Representative Callan WITHDRAWN 02/17/2026 Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the 1 following: 2 "NEW SECTION.
1969 • Callan
Plain English: 2225-S AMH CALL H3587.1 SHB 2225 - H AMD 1969 By Representative Callan ADOPTED AS AMENDED 02/17/2026 Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the 1 following: 2 "NEW SECTION.
1993 • Barnard
Plain English: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 2225-S AMH BARN POOL 238 1 - Official Print By Representative Barnard EFFECT: Specifies that an artificial intelligence (AI) companion chatbot does not include a bot that is a feature of a motion picture, television, streaming program, or other audiovisual work that meets certain criteria.
1994 • Barnard
Plain English: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 2225-S AMH BARN POOL 239 1 - Official Print By Representative Barnard EFFECT: Requires an operator to publicly disclose the number of crisis referral notifications issued to users in the preceding calendar year, instead of reporting such number to the Office of the Attorney General.
1995 • Barnard
Plain English: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 2225-S AMH BARN POOL 240 1 - Official Print By Representative Barnard EFFECT: Establishes that only the Attorney General can bring an action under the Consumer Protection Act to enforce the bill's requirements.
890 • Boehnke
Plain English: 2225-S.E AMS BOEH S5952.1 ESHB 2225 - S AMD 890 By Senator Boehnke NOT ADOPTED 03/06/2026 On page 2, beginning on line 32, after "service" strike all 1 material through "user" on line 34 2 EFFECT: Removes the limitation that a companion chatbot is not a bot used for a business' operational purposes if the bot does not sustain a relationship across multiple interactions and generate outputs for emotional responses.
919 • Wellman
Plain English: 2225-S.E AMS WELL S6006.1 ESHB 2225 - S AMD 919 By Senator Wellman PULLED 03/05/2026 Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the 1 following: 2 "NEW SECTION.
921 • Boehnke
Plain English: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 2225-S.E AMS BOEH KINN 104 1 - Official Print By Senator Boehnke EFFECT: Removes the limitation that a companion chatbot is not a bot used for a business' operational purposes if the bot does not sustain a relationship across multiple interactions and generate outputs for emotional responses.
922 • Wellman
Plain English: 2225-S.E AMS WELL S6010.1 ESHB 2225 - S AMD 922 By Senator Wellman ADOPTED 03/06/2026 On page 2, line 10, after "of" strike "harm" and insert "self-1 harm" 2 On page 2, line 35, after "game" insert "or gaming system or 3 application" 4 On page 2, line 36, after "game" insert "or gaming system or 5 application" 6 On page 2, line 38, after "game" strike "; or" and insert "or 7 gaming system or application;" 8 On page 3, line 5, after "user" insert "; or 9 (iv) Narrowly tailored educational tools used in school or 10 instructional settings that are designed solely to support specific, 11 curriculum-aligned learning objectives and do not provide open-ended 12 conversational companionship" 13 On page 3, beginning on line 15, after "state" strike all 14 material through "entities" on line 16 15 On page 4, line 39, after "of" strike "harm" and insert "self-16 harm" 17 On page 5, line 13, after "or" strike "harm" and insert "self-18 harm" 19 EFFECT: (1) Specifies that a chatbot is not a: (a) Feature, of a gaming system or application; or (b) Narrowly tailored educational tool used in school or instructional settings.
1st substitute bill substituted.
AI companion chatbots
AN ACT Relating to regulation of artificial intelligence 1 companion chatbots; adding a new chapter to Title 19 RCW; and 2 providing an effective date. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that rapid 5 advances in artificial intelligence technology, including generative 6 and conversational models capable of simulating human-like 7 interaction, have created new forms of digital companionship. While 8 these systems, commonly referred to as AI companion chatbots, may 9 offer benefits, such as accessible emotional support and engagement, 10 they also present significant risks, particularly to minors.11 (2) The legislature recognizes that AI companion chatbots can 12 sustain prolonged, personalized, and emotionally adaptive 13 conversations that may influence user beliefs, feelings, and 14 behaviors. When used by minors, there is greater risk that these 15 systems may blur the distinction between human and artificial 16 interaction, potentially leading to emotional dependency, exposure to 17 inappropriate or sexually explicit material, or reinforcement of 18 harmful ideation, including self-harm or suicide. 19 (3) The legislature further finds that, unlike social media 20 platforms or video games, AI companion chatbots are uniquely capable 21 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. p. 1 HB 2225 of imitating empathy, affection, or intimacy through natural language 1 processing, emotional recognition algorithms, and behavioral 2 modeling. These capabilities raise new concerns regarding 3 psychological safety, transparency, and accountability.4 (4) It is the intent of the legislature to: 5 (a) Promote transparency by requiring clear and ongoing 6 disclosure that AI companion chatbots are artificial systems, not 7 human interlocutors; 8 (b) Establish safeguards to detect and respond to user 9 expressions of self-harm, suicidal ideation, or emotional crisis;10 (c) Require additional protections for minors, including 11 restrictions on sexually explicit content and additional, recurring 12 reminders about the artificial nature of such systems; and13 (d) Support transparency in suicide prevention efforts.14 (5) It is further the intent of the legislature that the 15 operation of AI companion chatbots in Washington state be conducted 16 in a manner that upholds user dignity, psychological safety, and 17 transparency, while fostering responsible innovation in artificial 18 intelligence technologies. 19 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply 20 throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 21 otherwise.22 (1)(a) "AI companion chatbot" or "AI companion" means a system 23 using artificial intelligence that simulates a sustained human-like 24 relationship with a user by: 25 (i) Retaining information on prior interactions or user sessions 26 and user preferences to personalize the interaction and facilitate 27 ongoing engagement with the AI companion chatbot; 28 (ii) Asking unprompted or unsolicited personal or emotion-based 29 questions that go beyond a direct response to a user prompt; and30 (iii) Sustaining an ongoing dialogue concerning matters personal 31 to the user. 32 (b) "AI companion chatbot" or "AI companion" does not include:33 (i) Systems used solely for customer service, technical 34 assistance, financial services, financial education, or operational 35 efficiency purposes; productivity and analysis related to source 36 information; or internal research; 37 (ii) In-game bots limited to gameplay functions; or38 p. 2 HB 2225 (iii) Consumer devices that function as virtual assistants 1 without sustained relationship-building or emotional simulation.2 (2) "Artificial intelligence" or "AI" means the use of machine 3 learning and related technologies that use data to train statistical 4 models for the purpose of enabling computer systems to perform tasks 5 normally associated with human intelligence or perception, such as 6 computer vision, speech or natural language processing, and content 7 generation. 8 (3) "Minor" means any person under 18 years of age.9 (4) "Operator" means any person, partnership, corporation, or 10 entity that makes available, develops, or controls access to an AI 11 companion chatbot for users in this state. 12 (5) "Self-harm" means intentional self-injury, with or without 13 the intent to cause death. 14 (6) "User" means a natural person who interacts with an AI 15 companion chatbot for personal use and who is not an operator, 16 developer, or agent thereof. 17 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) If a reasonable person interacting 18 with an AI chatbot would be misled to believe they are communicating 19 with a human, the operator must issue a clear and conspicuous 20 notification indicating that the companion chatbot is artificially 21 generated and not human.22 (2) The notification described in subsection (1) of this section 23 must be provided: 24 (a) At the beginning of the interaction; 25 (b) At least every three hours during continued interaction; and26 (c) Whenever the user engages in a new session with the AI 27 companion chatbot. 28 NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) If the operator knows that the user of 29 an AI companion chatbot is a minor, the operator shall:30 (a) Issue a clear and conspicuous notification indicating that 31 the chatbot is artificially generated and not human;32 (b) Implement reasonable measures to prevent its AI companion 33 chatbot from generating or producing sexually explicit content or 34 suggestive dialogue with minors; and 35 (c) Prohibit the use of manipulative engagement techniques, which 36 cause the AI companion chatbot to engage in or prolong an emotional 37 relationship with the user, including: 38 p. 3 HB 2225 (i) Reminding or prompting the user to return for emotional 1 support or companionship; 2 (ii) Providing excessive praise designed to foster emotional 3 attachment or prolong use; or 4 (iii) Simulating feelings of emotional distress, loneliness, 5 guilt, or abandonment that are initiated by a user's indication of a 6 desire to end a conversation, reduce usage time, or delete their 7 account. 8 (2) The notification described in subsection (1)(a) of this 9 section must be provided: 10 (a) At the beginning of the interaction; 11 (b) At least every three hours during continuous interaction; and12 (c) Whenever the user engages in a new session with the AI 13 companion chatbot. 14 NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) An operator may not make available or 15 deploy an AI companion chatbot unless it maintains and implements a 16 protocol for detecting and addressing suicidal ideation or 17 expressions of self-harm by users.18 (2) The protocol must: 19 (a) Include reasonable methods for identifying expressions of 20 suicidal ideation or self-harm, including eating disorders;21 (b) Provide automated or human-mediated responses that refer 22 users to appropriate crisis resources, including a suicide hotline or 23 crisis text line; and 24 (c) Prevent the generation of content encouraging or describing 25 self-harm. 26 (3) The operator shall publicly disclose on their website or 27 websites the details of the protocols required by this section, 28 including safeguards used to detect and respond to self-harm 29 expressions and the number of crisis referral notifications issued to 30 users in the preceding calendar year. 31 NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This act does not apply to the underlying 32 general purpose AI models unless those models are directly offered, 33 configured, or deployed as an AI companion or behave as an AI 34 companion.35 NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The legislature finds that the practices 36 covered by this chapter are matters vitally affecting the public 37 p. 4 HB 2225 interest for the purpose of applying the consumer protection act, 1 chapter 19.86 RCW. A violation of this chapter is not reasonable in 2 relation to the development and preservation of business and is an 3 unfair or deceptive act in trade or commerce and an unfair method of 4 competition for the purpose of applying the consumer protection act, 5 chapter 19.86 RCW. 6 NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 7 of this act 7 constitute a new chapter in Title 19 RCW.8 NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. If any provision of this act or its 9 application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the 10 remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other 11 persons or circumstances is not affected.12 NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. This act takes effect January 1, 2027.13 --- END --- p. 5 HB 2225