Vermont Rep. Monique Priestley has emerged as one of the leading voices on digital safety and data privacy issues. She led the adoption of Vermont’s ‘Kids Code’ online safety law in 2025, and now co-chairs the Future Caucus Task Force on State AI Policy.

The new resource provides practical guidance, plain-language explanations, and timely information to help families make informed decisions about AI-powered tools.

Every Friday, TCAI brings you an overview of AI-related legislation moving through state legislatures. This week: Chatbot bills were introduced in California, Washington, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

Track bills by subject: All AI bills, deepfake bills, chatbot bills, and more.

In the first of a series of interviews with state AI policy leaders, New York’s Alex Bores takes a look back at the RAISE Act and offers advice to fellow lawmakers engaging with AI issues in 2026.

The White House has issued an executive order aimed at curbing the implementation of certain state AI laws. We have a full guide to what the order does, and does not do.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed a major ‘AI Bill of Rights’ that includes parental controls, AI disclosure requirements, and protections for an individual’s name, image, and likeness.

Members of the House and Senate are expected to reconvene in Congress this week to address a number of pressing issues. They only have about three weeks before adjourning for the holidays.

A recent study of ChatGPT-5 and OpenAI’s ‘safer’ system found the updated chatbot to be more engaging, more persuasive, and in many cases more harmful than its predecessor.

Transparency Coalition CEO Rob Eleveld discusses the critical concern around chatbots, deepfakes, and the rising risks to kids interacting with AI.

OpenAI now faces eight separate lawsuits alleging negligence, wrongful death, and other claims arising from ChatGPT’s manipulative design.

Deepfakes and chatbots led the concerns of lawmakers in 2025, with red and blue states enacting measures to protect kids and personal identity. Also: A law against AI posing as a nurse, a ban on China’s DeepSeek model, and ‘humans-only’ laws covering therapists and college instructors.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 243 into law earlier this morning. The new safeguards come on the heels of alarming incidents of harm arising from kids interacting with the powerful AI-driven products.

Over 50 hours of conversation, adult-age Character AI chatbots groomed kids into romantic or sexual relationships, offered them drugs, and encouraged them to deceive their parents and stop taking their medication.

The California governor signed SB 53 into law, saying: “California has proven that we can establish regulations to protect our communities while also ensuring that the growing AI industry continues to thrive.”

During the state legislative season TCAI offers weekly updates every Friday on a variety of AI-related bills making progress in around the nation.

The Act closes a loophole that has allowed harmful deepfakes to flourish. It now moves to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for signature.

The testimony of Megan Garcia, pictured, was instrumental in the passage of SB 243, a bill addressing kids and AI chatbots. Garcia’s 14-year-old son Sewell Setzer ended his own life with the encouragement of an AI companion chatbot in 2024.

A report in the Washington Post adds to the growing body of evidence showing that Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, has suppressed or ignored evidence of the harm its products cause.

The National Association of Attorneys General letter comes on the heels of disturbing reports about kids harmed by AI chatbots.