US states enacted record 115 AI laws in 2026 as Congress stayed deadlocked

The Transparency Coalition has published its 2026 State AI Legislation Report, its second annual review of state AI policy, which tracks 115 measures. That figure is almost 58 percent above the 73 AI-related laws in the group's 2025 report. Its window runs mainly from January 1 to October 15, 2026, plus a few bills approved by legislatures but awaiting a governor's signature, and it leaves out data center measures. Inclusion does not signal the Coalition's support or opposition. Chief executive Rob Eleveld said lawmakers in both parties have taken the challenge seriously despite limited staff and time and pressure from industry.

According to the report, child safety around chatbots and human judgment in healthcare were leading priorities. Fourteen states advanced chatbot safety rules covering self-harm, sexually explicit content and manipulative engagement with minors, with California, Oregon and Washington enacting especially broad protections. Seven states addressed addictive design in products used by young people. Eight states limited insurers from relying only on automated systems for adverse coverage decisions, and five restricted AI-delivered mental health therapy. Other activity covered disclosure, education technology and deepfakes. Washington obliged covered developers to build provenance details into media that AI generates or alters. Illinois adopted the AI Safety Measures Act, which requires frontier developers to use risk-management frameworks and undergo yearly independent audits, and California set up standards for independent auditing organizations.

Looking to 2027, the Coalition expects state activity to accelerate. It anticipates attention to AI product liability, stronger second-generation chatbot safeguards, certification of third-party auditors, procurement standards as a safety lever, protections tied to licensed professions, and more frontier-model testing and monitoring requirements. The report also contains an analysis of 2026 trends and a state-by-state guide to the new laws.