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H7350AaaTechnology

Commercial Law - General Regulatory Provisions - Artificial Intelligence Companion Models

The bill requires AI companion programs to have safety protocols for self-harm and to remind users they aren't human.

Introduced69 Yea1 Nay4 Not voting
Population
Affected
25
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 28, 2026Committee House Innovation, Internet, & Technology

Plain-English Summary

This bill creates rules for companies that operate "AI companions," which are artificial intelligence systems designed to simulate human relationships. It requires these AI systems to have safety protocols to detect if a user expresses thoughts of suicide, self-harm, or harming others. If detected, the AI must provide the user with contact information for crisis services, like a suicide hotline. Operators must also report how often these safety protocols are activated to the Attorney General. Additionally, the AI must clearly remind users at the start of a conversation and every three hours that they are not talking to a real human.

For younger readers

This bill makes rules for computer programs called "AI companions" that are made to act like a computerized friend. If a person tells the AI friend that they want to hurt themselves or someone else, the computer program must give them a phone number to call for help. The businesses that make these AI friends have to tell state workers how many times this happens. Also, the AI friend has to remind the person at the beginning of their chat, and every three hours, that they are talking to a computer and not a real person.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
AI companion developers and operatorsUsers of AI companion applicationsMental health crisis service providersThe Office of the Attorney GeneralTech industry businesses
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

Moderate risk

There is a moderate First Amendment risk regarding compelled speech. The law mandates that private companies include specific speech in their products, specifically mandatory crisis hotline referrals and disclosures every three hours that the AI is not human. While commercial disclosure requirements are often upheld to prevent deception, mandating specific health-related protocols and crisis referrals in private software could face strict scrutiny challenges from developers.

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
Up to $15,000/day fine per noncompliant AI operator

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Protects the welfare of the community by ensuring vulnerable individuals experiencing mental health crises are connected to professional support services.
  • Directs penalty funds toward suicide prevention programs, strengthening the social safety net and providing resources for public health.
  • Increases corporate accountability by requiring tech companies to report safety metrics to the state, promoting transparency.
  • Relying on algorithms to detect complex emotional crises may lead to inaccurate responses, potentially harming marginalized individuals who communicate differently.
  • Mandated reporting of self-harm expressions to the government, even in aggregate, could raise privacy concerns for vulnerable populations seeking help.
  • Focuses on reactive crisis management through private tech companies rather than funding systemic, public mental health resources to address the root causes of depression.
For Conservatives
  • Excludes business-focused AI tools for customer service and productivity from the regulations, protecting corporate freedom for standard commercial operations.
  • Enforces transparency by requiring AI to explicitly disclose that it is not human, protecting consumers from being deceived by technology.
  • Addresses public safety by ensuring threats of physical violence against others are flagged and handled appropriately by the AI's protocols.
  • Imposes heavy government regulations on tech companies, limiting corporate freedom and stifling innovation in the rapidly growing AI sector.
  • Mandates specific speech from the AI, such as required notifications every three hours and mandatory crisis hotline referrals, infringing on the free speech rights of software creators.
  • Creates steep civil penalties of up to $15,000 per day, which could be seen as government overreach and a weaponization of the state against businesses.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

3 versions
Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 64 additions

SECTION 1. Title 6 of the General Laws entitled "COMMERCIAL LAW — GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 6-63-1. Definitions. As used in this chapter: (1)(i) "AI companion" means a system using artificial intelligence, generative artificial intelligence, and/or emotional recognition algorithms to simulate a sustained human or human-like relationship with a user by:

(A) Retaining information on prior interactions or user sessions and user preferences to personalize the interaction and facilitate ongoing engagement with the AI companion;

(B) Asking unprompted or unsolicited emotion-based questions that go beyond a direct response to a user prompt; and

(C) Sustaining an ongoing dialogue concerning matters personal to the user. (ii)"AI companion" shall not include:

(A) Any system used by a business entity solely for customer service or to strictly provide users with information about available commercial services or products provided by such entity, customer service account information, or other information strictly related to its customer service;

(B) Any system that is primarily designed and marketed for providing efficiency improvements or research or technical assistance; or

(C) Any system used by a business entity solely for internal purposes or employee productivity.

(2) "AI model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to produce outputs from a given set of inputs.

(3) "Artificial intelligence", "artificial intelligence technology", or "AI" means a machine- based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments.

(4) "Emotional recognition algorithms" means artificial intelligence that detects and interprets human emotional signals in text (using natural language processing and sentiment analysis), audio (using voice emotion AI), video (using facial movement analysis, gait analysis, or physiological signals), or a combination thereof.

(5) "Generative artificial intelligence" means a class of AI models that are self-supervised and emulate the structure and characteristics of input data to generate derived synthetic content including, but not limited to, images, videos, audio, text, and other digital content.

(6) "Operator" means any person, partnership, association, firm, or business entity, or any member, affiliate, subsidiary or beneficial owner of any partnership, association, firm, or business entity who operates or provides an AI companion.

(7) "Person" means any natural person.

(8) "User" means any person who uses an AI companion within the state and who is not an operator or agent or affiliate of the operator of the AI companion. 6-63-2. Prohibitions and requirements.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any operator to operate or provide an AI companion to a user unless such AI companion contains a protocol for addressing:

(1) Possible suicidal ideation or self-harm expressed by a user to the AI companion;

(2) Possible physical harm to others expressed by a user to the AI companion; and

(3) When any of those expressions are made, a notification shall be provided to the user that refers them to crisis service providers such as a suicide hotline, crisis text line, or other appropriate crisis services as soon as any of those expressions are detected.

(b) Beginning July 1, 2027, operators shall file annual reports with the office of the attorney general which shall include the number of safety protocol activations and related metrics. The office of the attorney general shall publish aggregated data on its website. 6-63-3. Notifications required. An operator shall provide a clear and conspicuous notification to a user at the beginning of any AI companion interaction and at least every three (3) hours for continuing AI companion interactions hereafter, which states either verbally or in writing that the user is not communicating with a human. 6-63-4. Enforcement.

(a) The attorney general shall be empowered to enforce this chapter, including the power to investigate, sue, and seek injunctions against noncompliant AI companion operators for violations of this chapter.

(b) Violations of this chapter may result in civil penalties up to fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) per day, with fines directed to suicide prevention programs. 6-63-5. Severability. If any provision of this chapter is declared unconstitutional or invalid, or the application of any provision of this chapter to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the constitutionality of the remainder of the chapter and its applicability to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.