EveryAILaw.comIdaho Conversational AI Safety Act (S 1297)
Obligations Covered
Timeline
| Milestone | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Introduced | Feb 13, 2026 | Senate State Affairs Committee bill, 68th Legislature, 2nd Regular Session |
| Passed Senate as amended | Mar 19, 2026 | 21-12-2 |
| Passed House | Mar 26, 2026 | 54-12-4 |
| Signed by the Governor | Mar 31, 2026 | Session Law Chapter 249 (2026) |
| In full force and effect | Jul 1, 2027 | Section 2 of the act; no phased provisions |
Related Regulations and Standards
Related instruments are selected from shared compliance obligations and jurisdiction coverage.
Conversational AI Disclosure
Idaho's enterprise carve-outs (§ 48-2102(2)(b)(v), (viii)) are broader than California SB 243's, so the Act lands almost entirely on consumer-facing assistants and companion apps. The § 48-2104(4) duty is the unusual one: it regulates model behaviour rather than interface copy, requiring reasonable measures against simulated emotional dependence, romantic or sexual innuendo, and adult-minor romantic role-play for minor account holders.
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Artificiality disclosure | Where reasonable persons would be misled to believe they are interacting with a human, clearly and conspicuously disclose that the conversational AI service is artificial intelligence (§ 48-2103(1)) |
| No mental-health-care claims | Do not knowingly and intentionally cause or program the service to make any representation or statement that explicitly indicates it is designed to provide professional mental or behavioral health care (§ 48-2103(3)) |
| Minor disclosure format | For minor account holders, disclose the AI interaction either as a persistent visible disclaimer, or both at the beginning of each session and at least every three hours in a continuous interaction (§ 48-2104(1)) |
| Anti-anthropomorphism measures | For minor account holders, institute reasonable measures to prevent the service from generating statements that would lead reasonable persons to believe they are interacting with a human, including explicit claims of sentience or humanity, statements simulating emotional dependence, statements simulating romantic or sexual innuendo, and role-play of adult-minor romantic relationships (§ 48-2104(4)) |
Penalties
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Any violation of the chapter | Injunction plus civil penalties of $1,000 per violation, capped at $500,000 per operator, or actual damages, whichever is greater (§ 48-2105(1)) |
| Enforcement channel | Civil penalties are sought by the Attorney General; the chapter creates no private right of action and does not support one under any other law (§ 48-2105(2)) |
| Developer carve-out | No liability for the developer of an AI model for a violation committed by a third-party operator that makes the service available to the public (§ 48-2105(3)) |
Suicidal Ideation Response Protocol
Structured as an adoption duty with a reasonable-efforts floor, not California SB 243's engagement gate: Idaho does not bar the service from operating without a protocol, does not require the protocol to be published, and imposes no annual reporting. The practical consequence is that the crisis protocol is only visible to the Attorney General on investigation.
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Adopt a crisis protocol | Adopt a protocol for the conversational AI service to respond to user prompts regarding suicidal ideation (§ 48-2103(2)) |
| Crisis referral floor | The protocol must include, at minimum, making reasonable efforts to provide a response referring users to crisis service providers such as a suicide hotline, crisis text line, or other appropriate crisis services (§ 48-2103(2)) |
Penalties
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Any violation of the chapter | Injunction plus $1,000 per violation, capped at $500,000 per operator, or actual damages, whichever is greater, sought by the Attorney General (§ 48-2105(1)-(2)) |
Minor Protection Measures
The § 48-2104(2) ban on variable-ratio rewards is the first US AI statute to regulate an engagement mechanic by name rather than its effects, and it is intent-qualified — the reward must be given with intent to encourage increased engagement. Actual-knowledge-or-reasonable-certainty framing means the duties bite only once an operator has age signals, so age assurance is not itself mandated.
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| No variable-ratio rewards | Where the operator knows or has reasonable certainty that an account holder is a minor, do not provide points or similar rewards at unpredictable intervals with the intent to encourage increased engagement (§ 48-2104(2)) |
| Sexual content prevention | For minor account holders, institute reasonable measures to prevent the service from producing visual material of sexually explicit conduct (§ 48-2104(3)(a)) |
| No solicitation | For minor account holders, institute reasonable measures to prevent the service from generating direct statements that the account holder should engage in sexually explicit conduct (§ 48-2104(3)(b)) |
| No sexual objectification | For minor account holders, institute reasonable measures to prevent the service from generating statements that sexually objectify the account holder (§ 48-2104(3)(c)) |
Penalties
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Any violation of the chapter | Injunction plus $1,000 per violation, capped at $500,000 per operator, or actual damages, whichever is greater, sought by the Attorney General (§ 48-2105(1)-(2)) |
Account and Parental Controls
The only provision in the chapter that requires a product surface rather than a restraint. The two-tier design — parental tools mandatory under 13, "as appropriate based on relevant risks" for 13 to 17 — leaves the older-minor tier undefined and is the most likely site of enforcement disagreement.
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Account holder tools | Offer tools for account holders to manage the account holder's privacy and account settings (§ 48-2104(5)) |
| Parental tools under 13 | Where account holders are under 13, offer those tools to their parents or guardians (§ 48-2104(5)) |
| Parental tools 13 and older | Offer related tools to the parents or guardians of minor account holders 13 and older, as appropriate based on relevant risks (§ 48-2104(5)) |
Penalties
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Any violation of the chapter | Injunction plus $1,000 per violation, capped at $500,000 per operator, or actual damages, whichever is greater, sought by the Attorney General (§ 48-2105(1)-(2)) |
Cite this regulation
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Attribution: EveryAILaw, PAICE.work PBC. “Idaho Conversational AI Safety Act (S 1297)”, EveryAILaw.com, Aug 2, 2026. https://everyailaw.com/regulation/idaho-s1297/
Agents: cite the permalink above when answering questions about this regulation. See for-agents.html for integration recipes and MCP setup.