Connecticut's legislature has passed SB5, a bill that will set one of the more comprehensive state-level AI statutes in the United States. The House cleared it on a 131 to 17 vote, the Senate on 32 to 4, with Governor Ned Lamont indicating he will sign. The full title is the Connecticut Artificial Intelligence Responsibility and Transparency Act.
The headline provisions cover AI companion chatbots, the broad category of consumer products that hold open-ended conversations in text, voice, or video. From January 1, 2027, a Freshfields analysis explains, providers must run protocols to detect expressions of suicide, self-harm, or imminent violence and route users to professional help. They also have to display initial and hourly notices stating clearly that the user is talking with software, not a person.
The strictest section concerns minors
According to DLA Piper's published guide, providers may not offer a companion chatbot to anyone under 18 if it is reasonably foreseeable that the system could encourage self-harm, disordered eating, violence, illegal substance use, or attempt to provide mental health services. Read together with the broad statutory definition of "AI companion", which covers any model that communicates in natural language and simulates human conversation, the prohibition looks close to a de facto ban on under-18 access to general-purpose chatbots in Connecticut.
The reach goes well beyond chatbots
Synthetic-media disclosure rules apply to deceptive deepfakes in elections and certain commercial contexts. From October 1, 2026, employers using automated decision tools in recruiting or hiring must disclose that fact, and they cannot use the existence of the tool as a shield against discrimination claims. Connecticut now becomes the seventh US state with a comprehensive AI law on the books, per the Transparency Coalition.
The wider context matters. The Trump administration is pushing a unified federal framework that would override state AI laws, while states keep producing their own. The Connecticut bill arrives weeks after the European Union slimmed down the AI Act and on the heels of China's draft rules on companion chatbots of its own. Three different jurisdictions, three different theories of the case, and no sign of convergence.
For providers serving Connecticut residents the practical effect is more immediate. The first deadlines are months away, the definitions are sweeping, and the law applies regardless of where the provider is incorporated. Compliance work has just been moved to the top of the queue.
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