Washington committee hears experts and students on bill to regulate AI companion chatbots

The Technology, Economic Development & Veterans Committee heard extensive testimony on engrossed substitute Senate Bill 5,984 on Feb. 20, which would require operators of AI companion chatbots to disclose that interactions are artificially generated, prevent chatbots from claiming to be human, impose safeguards around self-harm detection, and bar manipulative engagement techniques.

Committee staff summarized key provisions: operators must provide an initial disclosure and periodic notifications during sustained interactions (at least every three hours for adults and every hour when the operator knows the user is a minor), adopt suicide- and self-harm–detection protocols with automated or human-mediated referrals to crisis resources, prohibit content that encourages self-harm, and disclose on websites and in apps the safeguards used and the number of crisis-referral notifications issued in the prior calendar year. Enforcement would proceed under Washington’s Consumer Protection Act, staff said.

Why it matters: researchers, clinicians and…