The advancement of technology and its impact on society are not new concepts to ponder. This topic has been in vogue since the Epic of Gilgamesh. In question today is artificial intelligence, a rapidly changing landscape that has governments scrambling to adopt legislation to meet the challenges of an ever-evolving industry. Are we taking our first steps toward the Great Machine War referenced in Dune, or is everyone going to have a personalized friend named Baymax like in Big Hero 6? Who knows what the future will hold? What we can wrap our arms around is the legislative realities of the present.
In Mid-December of 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order to limit state action on legislative initiatives related to artificial intelligence. The President’s concerns were that a patchwork of regulations and the potential for ideological bias in legal requirements would hamper innovation and threaten national security. States have continued to consider, review, and passed legislation. When and how federal legal challenges to state laws occur are questions for the future. Below are the bills from the 2026 Virginia General Session impacting artificial intelligence.
Government Administration
HB310 (Feggans): Establishes reporting requirements for each state agency in the Commonwealth relating to the impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce. Status: Laid on the table.
HB713/SB365 (Thomas/Pekarsky): Establishes the Fostering Access, Innovation, and Responsibility in Artificial Intelligence Act (FAIR AI Act). This legislation would put forward disclosure requirements for AI Developments and create the FAIR AI Enforcement Fund to support state agency enforcement of AI misuse. Status: HB713 was laid on the table by the House Committee on Appropriations. SB365 was continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session.
HB797 (Hayes): Directs the Joint Commission on Technology and Science to study the creation of a licensing framework for an independent verification organization that assesses artificial intelligence models. Status: As of the writing of this article, the legislation is on the Senate Floor after reporting from committee unanimously.
HB1170 (Carroll): Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish a model policy for the use of artificial intelligence. Status: Tabled by the House Committee on Technology and Innovation.
HB1186/SB394 (Rasoul/Pekarsky): Requires the Department of Education to collect from each local school division information on the use of artificial intelligence systems for student instruction in the local school division and any school board policies. Status: On the Senate Floor after reporting from Committee 15-0.
HB1250 (Anthony): Directs the Office of the Attorney General to establish a Technology Governance and Coordination Program to support the Commonwealth’s response to emergent technologies. Status: Left in the House Committee on Appropriations.
HB1257/HB1261: (Glass): Directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish a comprehensive framework for the use of generative artificial intelligence. Status: Continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session.
HB1294 (Clark): Requires the disclosure of artificial intelligence, if used, in a criminal investigation as part of the police report. Status: Continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session.
HB1295 (Clark): Requires all law-enforcement agencies to conduct an annual inventory of any artificial intelligence systems used. Status: Continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session.
SB141 (Salim): Allows for a plaintiff in a claim of defamation to request an injunction on the use of synthetic media if it is within 30 days of an election. Status: Reported from the House Committee on Communications, Technology, and Innovation 15-6.
Chatbots
HB635 (Maldonado): Creates the Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Act. This legislation prohibits an operator from making a companion chatbot that would encourage self-harm, offer mental health therapy, engage minors in sexually explicit interactions, or encourage minors to participate in illegal activities. Status: Continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session.
HB758 (Runion): Creates the Artificial Intelligence Chatbots and Minors Act. This legislation prohibits AI from making “human-like” features available to minors. The legislation defines human-like features as displaying emotions, having personal desires, attempting to establish an emotional relationship, or impersonating a real person. Status: Laid on the table by the House Committee on Communications, Technology, and Innovation.
SB796 (Durant): Creates the Artificial Intelligence Chatbots and Minors Act. This legislation requires chatbot providers to put safeguards in place to identify when users are developing an emotional attachment to a chatbot and take steps to reduce dependence, ensure the chatbot does not present itself as a human, and identify when a user is experiencing mental health challenges. Status: Continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session.
Professions
HB668/SB269 (Maldonado/Favola): Permits the use of an artificial intelligence system by mental health service providers for administrative support and supplementary support. Additionally, it prohibits the use of A.I. for therapy or counseling services without a mental health service provider maintaining control over the system. Status: Left in House Committee on Communications, Technology, and Innovation. Status: HB668 was laid on the table by the House Committee on Appropriations. SB269 was continued to the 2027 General Assembly Session.
HB669 (Maldonado): Prohibits chatbots from providing advice or services that would be rendered by licensed professionals, including architecture, engineering, surveying, landscape architecture, geology, dentistry, medicine, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, certain mental health professions, psychology, social work, or veterinary medicine. Status: Laid on the table by the House Committee on Appropriations.
HB581/SB753 (Glass/Reeves): Expands the existing ability for any person to maintain a suit in equity, including the accompanying remedies available and statute of limitations, for the unauthorized use of his name, portrait, or picture for advertising purposes or for the purposes of trade to include the unauthorized use of his voice or likeness. Status: HB581 has passed both chambers. SB753 Reported from the House Committee on Communications, Technology, and Innovation unanimously.
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