Rhode Island Artificial Intelligence Companion Models Act (S 2195 Sub A / H 7350 Sub A)

Properties

jurisdiction: US, Rhode Island
level: state
domain: safety
status: enacted-pending
scope: Applies to any operator that operates or provides an AI companion, defined as a system using AI, generative AI, and/or emotional recognition algorithms to simulate a sustained human-like relationship with a user by retaining prior-interaction data, asking unprompted emotion-based questions, and sustaining ongoing personal dialogue; excludes narrow customer-service, efficiency/research, and internal-business-productivity systems.
obligations: It is unlawful to operate or provide an AI companion unless it contains a protocol for addressing possible suicidal ideation or self-harm, and possible physical harm to others, expressed by a user, with a notification referring the user to crisis service providers (Sec. 6-63-2(a)). Operators must give a clear and conspicuous notification at the start of an interaction and at least every 3 hours thereafter stating the user is not communicating with a human (Sec. 6-63-3). Beginning July 1, 2027, operators must file annual reports with the Attorney General on safety-protocol activations and related metrics, which the AG publishes in aggregate (Sec. 6-63-2(b)).
effectiveDate: 2027-01-01
enactedDate: 2026-06-22
penalties: Civil penalties up to $15,000 per day, with fines directed to suicide prevention programs; a private right of action for any person physically injured through self-harm or physically/financially harmed by another because of a violation; Attorney General may investigate, sue, and seek injunctions.
appliesTo: operators of AI companion systems accessible to Rhode Island users
officialUrl: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Billtext/BillText26/SenateText26/S2195A.pdf
notes: Reported by multiple independent secondary sources (Nixon Peabody client alert, Transparency Coalition, Route Fifty/Yahoo News, LegiScan, ACLU of Rhode Island) as signed by Governor Dan McKee on June 22, 2026, as part of a three-bill Rhode Island AI package alongside S 2197 Sub A (mental health oversight) and S 2570 Sub A (healthcare AI-documentation notification), both also submitted in this batch; the exact signature date is not independently confirmed against a Rhode Island General Assembly or Governor's-office primary status page this round (rilegislature.gov's status-search tool and legiscan's bill-status page both returned errors to automated fetches). Text and quote confirmed by downloading the enacted Substitute A PDF (LC003227/SUB A) directly from rilegislature.gov and reading its extracted page text (not a summarizer paraphrase); Section 2 of that text independently fixes the effective date at January 1, 2027 regardless of the exact signature date. The introduced version (LC003227, without Sub A) had different, narrower definitions and no per-day penalty figure, so only the Substitute A print is cited here. Public Law/chapter number not independently confirmed in sources reviewed; left out rather than guessed. Distinct from all currently tracked companion-chatbot laws (ca-sb243, co-hb26-1263, wa-hb2225, hi-sb3001-ai-disclosure-safety-act): this is Rhode Island's own, separate enactment.

Properties

jurisdiction

US, Rhode Island

level

state

domain

safety

status

enacted-pending

scope

Applies to any operator that operates or provides an AI companion, defined as a system using AI, generative AI, and/or emotional recognition algorithms to simulate a sustained human-like relationship with a user by retaining prior-interaction data, asking unprompted emotion-based questions, and sustaining ongoing personal dialogue; excludes narrow customer-service, efficiency/research, and internal-business-productivity systems.

obligations

It is unlawful to operate or provide an AI companion unless it contains a protocol for addressing possible suicidal ideation or self-harm, and possible physical harm to others, expressed by a user, with a notification referring the user to crisis service providers (Sec. 6-63-2(a)). Operators must give a clear and conspicuous notification at the start of an interaction and at least every 3 hours thereafter stating the user is not communicating with a human (Sec. 6-63-3). Beginning July 1, 2027, operators must file annual reports with the Attorney General on safety-protocol activations and related metrics, which the AG publishes in aggregate (Sec. 6-63-2(b)).

effectiveDate

2027-01-01

enactedDate

2026-06-22

penalties

Civil penalties up to $15,000 per day, with fines directed to suicide prevention programs; a private right of action for any person physically injured through self-harm or physically/financially harmed by another because of a violation; Attorney General may investigate, sue, and seek injunctions.

appliesTo

operators of AI companion systems accessible to Rhode Island users

officialUrl

https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Billtext/BillText26/SenateText26/S2195A.pdf

notes

Reported by multiple independent secondary sources (Nixon Peabody client alert, Transparency Coalition, Route Fifty/Yahoo News, LegiScan, ACLU of Rhode Island) as signed by Governor Dan McKee on June 22, 2026, as part of a three-bill Rhode Island AI package alongside S 2197 Sub A (mental health oversight) and S 2570 Sub A (healthcare AI-documentation notification), both also submitted in this batch; the exact signature date is not independently confirmed against a Rhode Island General Assembly or Governor's-office primary status page this round (rilegislature.gov's status-search tool and legiscan's bill-status page both returned errors to automated fetches). Text and quote confirmed by downloading the enacted Substitute A PDF (LC003227/SUB A) directly from rilegislature.gov and reading its extracted page text (not a summarizer paraphrase); Section 2 of that text independently fixes the effective date at January 1, 2027 regardless of the exact signature date. The introduced version (LC003227, without Sub A) had different, narrower definitions and no per-day penalty figure, so only the Substitute A print is cited here. Public Law/chapter number not independently confirmed in sources reviewed; left out rather than guessed. Distinct from all currently tracked companion-chatbot laws (ca-sb243, co-hb26-1263, wa-hb2225, hi-sb3001-ai-disclosure-safety-act): this is Rhode Island's own, separate enactment.