Artificial Intelligence (AI) Legislation

Lawmakers are increasingly addressing AI through legislation

After years of hype, AI technologies have burst on the scene with consumer products like AI chatbots (e.g., ChatGPT, Bing AI, Google Bard) and image generators (e.g., Dall-E, Midjourney). As AI advances at a record pace, policymakers (like the rest of us) are trying to wrap their heads around what this technology could mean for our future.

At first, there was an education phase, largely in 2023, where lawmakers established study committees and task forces with the goal of developing recommendations on how best to regulate AI at this stage in the technology’s development. Next, state policymakers struggled to define “AI” and began to address acute use cases of AI, specifically, headline-grabbing uses such as deepfakes and synthetic media or to prevent bias in employment decisions. Next, we saw lawmakers broaden their regulatory scope to require disclosures and transparency in generative AI, mandate reporting for certain uses or for certain “high-risk” models, provide opt-outs for consumers, and ready the workforce for an AI transition.

Today, we’re tracking hundreds of pieces of legislation introduced on the state and federal level. Below is a map of which states are debating AI-related bills. For a comprehensive view of current state laws related to AI, see our state-by-state AI policy overviews.