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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS --

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COMPANION MODELS

     Introduced By: Senators Urso, Gu, DiPalma, Paolino, Zurier, Murray, and Appollonio

     Date Introduced: January 23, 2026

     Referred To: Senate Artificial Intelligence & Emerging Tech

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Title 6 of the General Laws entitled "COMMERCIAL LAW — GENERAL

REGULATORY PROVISIONS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 63

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COMPANION MODELS

     6-63-1. Definitions.

     As used in this chapter:

     (1)(i) "AI companion" means a system using artificial intelligence, generative artificial

intelligence, and/or emotional recognition algorithms to simulate a sustained human or human-like

relationship with a user by:

     (A) Retaining information on prior interactions or user sessions and user preferences to

personalize the interaction and facilitate ongoing engagement with the AI companion;

     (B) Asking unprompted or unsolicited emotion-based questions that go beyond a direct

response to a user prompt; and

     (C) Sustaining an ongoing dialogue concerning matters personal to the user.

     (ii)"AI companion" shall not include:

     (A) Any system used by a business entity solely for customer service or to strictly provide

users with information about available commercial services or products provided by such entity,

customer service account information, or other information strictly related to its customer service;

     (B) Any system that is primarily designed and marketed for providing efficiency

improvements or research or technical assistance; or

     (C) Any system used by a business entity solely for internal purposes or employee

productivity.

     (2) "AI model" means a component of an information system that implements artificial

intelligence technology and uses computational, statistical, or machine-learning techniques to

produce outputs from a given set of inputs.

     (3) "Artificial intelligence", "artificial intelligence technology", or "AI" means a machine-

based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions,

recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments, and that uses machine-

and human-based inputs to perceive real and virtual environments.

     (4) "Emotional recognition algorithms" means artificial intelligence that detects and

interprets human emotional signals in text (using natural language processing and sentiment

analysis), audio (using voice emotion AI), video (using facial movement analysis, gait analysis, or

physiological signals), or a combination thereof.

     (5) "Generative artificial intelligence" means a class of AI models that are self-supervised

and emulate the structure and characteristics of input data to generate derived synthetic content

including, but not limited to, images, videos, audio, text, and other digital content.

     (6) "Operator" means any person, partnership, association, firm, or business entity, or any

member, affiliate, subsidiary or beneficial owner of any partnership, association, firm, or business

entity who operates or provides an AI companion.

     (7) "Person" means any natural person.

     (8) "User" means any person who uses an AI companion within the state and who is not an

operator or agent or affiliate of the operator of the AI companion.

     6-63-2. Prohibitions and requirements.

     (a) It shall be unlawful for any operator to operate or provide an AI companion to a user

unless such AI companion contains a protocol for addressing:

     (1) Possible suicidal ideation or self-harm expressed by a user to the AI companion;

     (2) Possible physical harm to others expressed by a user to the AI companion; and

     (3) When any of those expressions are made, a notification shall be provided to the user

that refers them to crisis service providers such as a suicide hotline, crisis text line, or other

appropriate crisis services as soon as any of those expressions are detected.

     (b) Beginning July 1, 2027, operators shall file annual reports with the office of the attorney

general which shall include the number of safety protocol activations and related metrics. The office

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of the attorney general shall publish aggregated data on its website.

     6-63-3. Notifications required.

     An operator shall provide a clear and conspicuous notification to a user at the beginning of

any AI companion interaction and at least every three (3) hours for continuing AI companion

interactions hereafter, which states either verbally or in writing that the user is not communicating

with a human.

     6-63-4. Enforcement.

     (a) The attorney general shall be empowered to enforce this chapter, including the power

to investigate, sue, and seek injunctions against noncompliant AI companion operators for

violations of this chapter.

     (b) Violations of this chapter may result in civil penalties up to fifteen thousand dollars

($15,000) per day, with fines directed to suicide prevention programs.

     6-63-5. Severability.

     If any provision of this chapter is declared unconstitutional or invalid, or the application of

any provision of this chapter to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the constitutionality of

the remainder of the chapter and its applicability to other persons and circumstances shall not be

affected thereby.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS --

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COMPANION MODELS

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     This act would create additional safety features for artificial intelligence (AI) companion

technology including provisions addressing suicidal ideation, potential physical harm or financial

harm to others expressed by a user. The act also requires notification that the AI companion does

not have human emotions.

     This act would take effect on January 1, 2027.

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