10 State AI Laws Now in Force in 2025–2026 (And What They Actually Do)
The "patchwork" everyone warned about has arrived. In 24 months, ten states moved from white papers to enforceable AI statutes covering employment, generative content, insurance, and a Tennessee law named after Elvis. Here is what each one actually does — with bill numbers and effective dates.
The "patchwork" everyone warned about has arrived. In just 24 months, ten U.S. states moved from white papers to enforceable AI statutes — covering employment, generative content, insurance, healthcare, and a Tennessee law named after Elvis. Below is what each one actually does, in plain English, with the bill numbers and effective dates you'll need to cite. Every item links to its full sourced entry; see the complete state-by-state picture on the Jurisdictions page.
-
NEW LAW
1. Illinois — HB 3773 (AI in employment)
Illinois (state) · Effective January 1, 2026HB 3773 amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to prohibit employers from using AI that has a discriminatory effect on protected classes in recruiting, hiring, promotion, discipline, or discharge. It bars using ZIP code as a proxy for a protected class and requires applicant notice when AI is used. Enforcement runs through the Illinois Department of Human Rights, with a private right of action.
-
NEW LAW
2. Colorado — SB24-205, repealed and replaced by SB 26-189
Colorado (state) · SB 26-189 signed May 14, 2026; takes effect January 1, 2027 (enforcement currently stayed)Colorado was first out of the gate with a comprehensive risk-based AI law (SB24-205, signed May 2024), but it never took effect: implementation was postponed, then on May 14, 2026 Governor Polis signed SB 26-189, which fully repealed and replaced it with a narrower disclosure-and-rights framework for automated decision-making technology (ADMT). It takes effect January 1, 2027 — though enforcement is currently stayed amid the xAI v. Weiser litigation.
-
NEW LAW
3. Utah — SB 149, Artificial Intelligence Policy Act (amended 2025)
Utah (state) · In force since May 1, 2024; 2025 amendments effective May 7, 2025Utah's AI Policy Act (SB 149) took effect May 1, 2024 as the first state law specifically regulating generative AI disclosure. The 2025 amendments (effective May 7, 2025) narrowed disclosure to high-risk interactions — financial, legal, health — and added targeted rules for mental-health chatbots; SB 332 extended the Act's sunset to 2027.
-
NEW LAW
4. California — SB 942, AI Transparency Act
California (state) · Effective August 2, 2026SB 942 (signed September 2024) requires "covered providers" — generative AI systems with over 1M monthly California users — to offer a free public AI-content detection tool and apply visible and latent disclosures to AI-generated media. AB 853 (2025) pushed the effective date to August 2, 2026 and added hosting-platform obligations beginning in 2027.
-
NEW LAW
5. Texas — HB 149, Responsible AI Governance Act (TRAIGA)
Texas (state) · Effective January 1, 2026Governor Abbott signed TRAIGA in June 2025. The pared-back final version focuses on government use of AI, prohibits AI systems designed to unlawfully discriminate or to facilitate certain prohibited content (CSAM, social-scoring of citizens), and creates a Texas AI Council. It is narrower than Colorado's original framework but is now the largest red-state AI law in force.
-
VETOED
6. Virginia — HB 2094 (the honest gap)
Virginia (state) · Vetoed March 24, 2025 — Virginia has no comprehensive AI law in forceVirginia's High-Risk AI Developer and Deployer Act would have been the country's second comprehensive employment-and-housing AI law. Governor Youngkin vetoed HB 2094 on March 24, 2025, citing compliance costs. We include it here because some compliance vendors still list Virginia as a "covered jurisdiction" — it isn't. This is a documented gap, not a law.
-
NEW LAW
7. New York — S7543B, the LOADinG Act
New York (state) · Signed December 2024The Legislative Oversight of Automated Decision-making in Government Act requires New York State agencies to inventory automated decision-making systems, conduct impact assessments, maintain meaningful human review, and report biennially to the Governor. It also bars agencies from displacing public-sector workers with AI systems without authorization — the strictest state-government AI restraint in the country.
-
NEW LAW
8. New York — Fashion Workers Act (S9832)
New York (state) · Effective June 19, 2025Less famous but more concrete: New York's Fashion Workers Act (signed December 2024) requires informed, written, revocable consent before a model's digital replica can be created or used by a client or management company. It is the first state law in the U.S. to regulate AI-generated likenesses in a specific labor market.
-
NEW LAW
9. Maryland — SB 818, AI Governance Act of 2024
Maryland (state) · Effective July 1, 2024SB 818 (Chapter 496, signed May 2024) requires every Maryland state agency to inventory AI systems, conduct impact assessments, and publish policies governing development, procurement, deployment, and assessment. The Governor's AI Subcabinet delivered its final report in December 2025.
-
NEW LAW
10. Tennessee — ELVIS Act (voice/likeness rights)
Tennessee (state) · Effective July 1, 2024Tennessee's Ensuring Likeness, Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act amends the state's Personal Rights Protection Act to create a property right in an individual's voice — including any simulated version — and to prohibit unauthorized use of AI-generated voice clones. It passed both chambers unanimously and is the first U.S. state law explicitly written for the music industry's AI problem.
What to watch next: first, enforcement — Illinois HB 3773 is the first AI-employment statute with a real private right of action, and the first lawsuits will set practical compliance norms. Second, Colorado's reset — SB 26-189 abandoned the EU-style risk framework and may become the template other states copy. Third, federal preemption — a moratorium on state AI laws was floated in the 2025–26 budget debate (and stripped 99-1) and may return. Track every pending bill on the Bill Tracker and search any address on the live map.