Three States Just Passed Major AI Laws

Washington’s governor signed two AI laws yesterday. Utah sent nine more to the governor’s desk. Virginia passed education AI rules. Here is what it means for your business.

State-level AI regulation just accelerated again. On March 24, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed two major AI bills into law — one requiring disclosure when content is AI-generated, another protecting kids from harmful AI chatbot interactions. Utah’s legislature sent nine AI-related bills to Governor Spencer Cox before adjourning. And Virginia quietly advanced AI safety requirements for public schools while tabling broader AI regulation until 2027.

If you run any kind of AI-facing tool — a chatbot on your website, AI-generated marketing content, automated customer communication — these laws will eventually affect how you operate. Here is what each state passed and what you should do about it.

What Washington, Utah, and Virginia just passed

Washington: AI disclosure and chatbot safety

Governor Ferguson signed two bills at a ceremony in Olympia on March 24:

HB 1170 — AI content disclosure. Any AI-generated or AI-modified image, audio, or video must include a latent disclosure (like a watermark). Providers must also offer users the option to include a visible disclosure and make provenance detection tools available. Based on California’s AI Transparency Act. Takes effect January 1, 2028.

HB 2225 — AI companion chatbot safety. AI chatbots must tell users they are talking to AI at the start of every conversation and every three hours. For minors, that disclosure repeats every hour. The bill also prohibits chatbots from generating sexually explicit content for minors, mimicking romantic relationships with minors, or encouraging minors to withhold information from adults. Operators must publish protocols for detecting and responding to self-harm or suicidal ideation. Takes effect January 1, 2027. Violations are enforceable under Washington’s Consumer Protection Act, and individuals can sue.

Governor Ferguson stated: “By making it clear when AI generates media, Washingtonians are better protected against confusion, deception, and misinformation.”

Utah: nine bills covering schools, deepfakes, and health AI

Utah’s seven-week legislative session ended with nine AI-related bills sent to Governor Cox’s desk. The key ones for business owners:

HB 276 — Digital Content Provenance Standards Act. Establishes standards for identifying AI-generated content, similar in spirit to Washington’s HB 1170.
HB 273 — Classroom Technology. Requires schools to develop AI use policies and expand computer science standards to include AI literacy.
Bills addressing deepfake protections and AI in health insurance also passed.

What did not pass: Utah’s companion chatbot safety bill (HB 438) died on the Senate floor despite passing the House 68-1. The state’s frontier AI model bill was shelved after the White House called it “unfixable” and threatened to withhold broadband funding.

Virginia: education AI moves forward, everything else waits

Virginia took a narrower path. The legislature advanced several education-focused AI bills — including HB 171, which adds AI safety to public school internet safety curriculum, and SB 394, which creates a pilot program for AI use in classrooms.

Broader AI regulation, including a chatbot safety bill and an AI anti-discrimination measure, was tabled until 2027. Federal pressure played a role — with nearly $1.5 billion in broadband funding potentially at stake, Virginia legislators decided caution was warranted.

How AI disclosure laws affect your business

If you use an AI chatbot for customer intake, generate marketing content with AI tools, or run automated customer communication, pay attention to two requirements showing up across these laws:

Disclosure. Multiple states now require that customers know when they are interacting with AI. Washington’s HB 2225 is explicit: tell the user at the start and periodically throughout the conversation. If your website chatbot does not already identify itself as AI, this is the standard to plan for — even if your state has not passed its own version yet.

Content provenance. Washington’s HB 1170 and Utah’s HB 276 both push toward embedded markers in AI-generated content. If you create marketing images, videos, or audio with AI tools, the platforms you use will likely need to add watermarking capabilities. You probably will not need to do anything yourself right away, but know that the content you produce with AI may carry invisible provenance markers going forward.

We covered the broader wave of 78 chatbot bills across 27 states earlier this month. These signings and votes are the first of many.

What you should do now

You do not need to panic, but you do need a plan. Here are three steps:

Audit your AI touchpoints. List every place a customer might interact with AI on your behalf — website chatbot, automated text responses, AI-generated emails, AI-created social media content. If you use Hollr or a similar intake tool, check whether it already includes an AI disclosure.
Add disclosure language. Even if your state has not passed a law yet, proactive disclosure builds trust. A simple “You’re chatting with an AI assistant” at the start of a conversation costs nothing and protects you if legislation catches up.
Watch your state. The Transparency Coalition and Troutman Pepper’s weekly AI law tracker are the best resources for monitoring which bills are moving in your state. Bookmark one of them.

Watch for

Governor Cox’s signature (or veto) on Utah’s nine bills — he has 20 days to act
Federal preemption attempts — the White House is actively pressuring states to pull back AI regulation, threatening broadband funding as leverage
More states following Washington’s template — Oregon already passed a similar chatbot bill, and dozens more are in progress

The bottom line

State AI regulation is no longer theoretical. Washington has two signed laws. Utah has nine bills on the governor’s desk. The pattern is clear: states are not waiting for Congress. If your business uses AI in any customer-facing way, the time to prepare is now — not when your state’s version takes effect.

Need help making sure your AI tools are compliant? Get in touch — we help Appalachian businesses stay ahead of the curve.