EveryAILaw.comDoes Georgia AI Companion Chatbot Safeguards (SB 540) require Transparency & Disclosure?
Georgia • enacted
Yes — 1 provision
Requirements at a glance
This regulation imposes 5 specific requirements for Transparency & Disclosure across 1 provision:
- Session-opening disclosure — Clearly and conspicuously disclose to the user that they are interacting with an AI companion chatbot as opposed to a natural person, at the beginning of each interaction or session (§ 39-5-6(b)(1)(A))
- Three-hour recurring disclosure — Repeat the disclosure at least every three hours during continued interaction (§ 39-5-6(b)(1)(B))
- Hourly disclosure for minors — Where the operator knows or reasonably should have known the user is a minor, or the chatbot is directed or marketed toward minor users, repeat the disclosure every hour instead of every three hours (§ 39-5-6(b)(2))
- Anti-personhood measures for minors — For users known or reasonably knowable to be minors, institute reasonable measures to prevent the chatbot from generating statements that would lead a reasonable person to believe they are interacting with a natural person, including explicit claims of sentience or personhood and statements refuting the required disclosure (§ 39-5-6(c)(1)-(2))
- No false claim of clinical licensure — Do not knowingly and intentionally cause or program the chatbot to represent that it is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized to provide professional mental health, behavioral health, medical, or counseling services unless the operator is lawfully authorized to provide such services (§ 39-5-6(h))
AI Companion Chatbot Disclosure #
The three-limb definition in § 39-5-6(a)(1)(A) is conjunctive — memory, unprompted emotional questioning, and sustained personal dialogue must all be present — which is a narrower gate than California SB 243's reasonable-person test, but the recurring-disclosure cadence is stricter: every three hours generally, every hour for known or marketed-to minors. Subsection (h) is the only place the Act addresses licensed professionals: it bars an operator from programming a chatbot to claim mental health, behavioral health, medical, or counseling licensure unless the operator is lawfully authorized to provide those services. That is a proviso, not an exemption — a licensed clinician's companion chatbot is still fully subject to § 39-5-6.
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Session-opening disclosure | Clearly and conspicuously disclose to the user that they are interacting with an AI companion chatbot as opposed to a natural person, at the beginning of each interaction or session (§ 39-5-6(b)(1)(A)) |
| Three-hour recurring disclosure | Repeat the disclosure at least every three hours during continued interaction (§ 39-5-6(b)(1)(B)) |
| Hourly disclosure for minors | Where the operator knows or reasonably should have known the user is a minor, or the chatbot is directed or marketed toward minor users, repeat the disclosure every hour instead of every three hours (§ 39-5-6(b)(2)) |
| Anti-personhood measures for minors | For users known or reasonably knowable to be minors, institute reasonable measures to prevent the chatbot from generating statements that would lead a reasonable person to believe they are interacting with a natural person, including explicit claims of sentience or personhood and statements refuting the required disclosure (§ 39-5-6(c)(1)-(2)) |
| No false claim of clinical licensure | Do not knowingly and intentionally cause or program the chatbot to represent that it is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized to provide professional mental health, behavioral health, medical, or counseling services unless the operator is lawfully authorized to provide such services (§ 39-5-6(h)) |
Penalties
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Attorney General civil action | Civil penalty of up to $10,000 per knowing violation, compensatory damages, costs and reasonable attorney's fees, and an order enjoining the violation (§ 39-5-6(k)(1)) |
| Per-day, per-user accrual | Each day in violation counts as a separate violation for each user affected (§ 39-5-6(k)(2)) |
| Discretionary cure period | The Attorney General may give written notice and 30 days to cure a first-time violation not involving knowing misconduct, sexual exploitation of a minor, or self-harm related misconduct (§ 39-5-6(k)(3)) |