Colorado Conversational AI Services Act (HB 26-1263)
Colorado · Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 6-1-1701, 6-1-1708 (HB 26-1263, 2026 Session Laws ch. 208) · effective 2027-01-01
Summary
From January 1, 2027, the operator of a conversational AI service (an AI system open to the general public that mainly simulates human conversation) must tell every user it is AI: at the start of the first interaction each day, at least every three hours in a continuous interaction or as a persistent notice, and whenever a user asks. Users the operator knows are minors get a stricter notice and added protections. The law leaves out tools mainly designed for commerce or customer service, narrow single-topic tools, tools for business operations, and several other categories. Signed May 29, 2026. The act took effect August 12, 2026, and its duties start January 1, 2027.
Who must comply
Any person or business that develops and makes publicly available a conversational AI service, or offers one to a consumer. App stores and search engines that only provide access are not operators.
What you must disclose
A clear and conspicuous disclosure that the service is artificial intelligence. For a user the operator knows is a minor: that they are interacting with AI that is artificially generated and not human.
When: At the start of a user's first interaction each day; at least every three hours in a continuous interaction, or as a persistent visible disclosure; and whenever a user asks if it is artificial. For known minors: a persistent visible disclaimer on a screen, an intermittent audio disclaimer without one, or at the start of each interaction and every three hours.
Other duties
- Estimate the age of account holders and users by commercially reasonable or generally accepted methods, and do not wilfully disregard clear information that a user is a minor.
- Keep a protocol for prompts about suicidal ideation or self-harm that refers the user to a crisis service (not a law enforcement agency) and escalates repeated or severe signs.
- For known minors: no points or rewards at unpredictable intervals to drive engagement; measures against sexually explicit output; measures against responses that simulate emotional dependence, claim to be human or sentient, or simulate romantic companionship; privacy and account tools for the minor and for a parent or guardian.
- Do not state that the service's output is provided by, endorsed by or equal to a licensed health-care, legal or mental health professional, or a qualified dietitian.
- From July 1, 2027, report each year to the Attorney General on crisis referrals and self-harm protocols, with no user identifiers.
Exemptions
- Tools mainly designed for commerce or transactions, including product recommendations, shopping, ordering, payments, delivery, returns, customer support and customer service.
- Tools on a narrow, discrete topic that cannot produce sexually explicit output or keep up a dialogue about suicide or self-harm.
- Tools mainly designed and marketed for developers or researchers, or for business operations, productivity, analysis, internal research, training or technical help; tools a business uses only internally.
- Voice or text assistants for a consumer device, video game dialogue limited to the game, and theme park features, each within the limits the act sets.
- Tools used by or for a HIPAA covered entity or business associate, or by an entity under Colorado's Health Care Availability Act.
- Limited educational tools in a school setting, and a feature inside another application, when not designed to simulate emotional companionship.
Penalties
The act sets no amount of its own. It adds these duties to part 17 of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, and the legislature's bill summary describes a violation as a deceptive trade practice.