SB 540: Online Internet Safety; certain disclosures related to conversational AI services; require

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Discussed in meetings (15)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

1. Senate Children and Families Committee, February 24, 2026

   From 0:09:36 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill would require chatbot disclosures to minors, crisis resources for self-harm prompts, limits on engagement rewards, protections against sexual exploitation and romantic manipulation, and parental account controls. The sponsor said the substitute removed developers from the operator definition and reserved account-management tools for parents and guardians. Members questioned how services would identify minors. The sponsor confirmed that the bill specifies no method. One member warned that requiring identification could threaten privacy. Another member cited a statistic that 73% of teenagers use AI companions and questioned whether penalties were strong enough. Witnesses for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and Voices for Georgia's Children supported the bill, citing grooming risks and concerns about adolescent development and mental health. Another witness opposed the approach, warning about identification leaks and urging broader chatbot regulation. The committee adopted an amendment removing the $500,000 total penalty cap while retaining penalties of up to $1,000 per violation. Two members reiterated privacy and age-verification concerns before the vote. The committee approved the substitute as amended and sent it to Rules; no vote count was stated.

2. Senate Rules Committee, February 26, 2026

   From 0:15:33 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: During the brief review of SB 540, one speaker characterized it as expanding government, while another described its purpose as protecting children. No provisions were explained, and no action followed.

3. Senate Rules Committee, March 3, 2026

   From 0:23:47 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair said the sponsor had requested that SB 540 be held. The chair confirmed the hold when reviewing the final calendar selections. There was no presentation of the bill’s provisions, and it was not included in the selected slate.

4. Senate Rules Committee, March 5, 2026

   From 0:47:42 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair called up SB 540, but no substantive explanation or questions followed. A committee member later selected it, and the committee unanimously included it in the floor-calendar package.

5. Senate floor session, March 6, 2026 (legislative day 28, part 1)

   From 6:45:56 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Tabled)

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 540 would require conversational AI services to identify themselves as AI, provide parental controls, prohibit sexually explicit interactions and simulated romantic relationships with minors, and direct users expressing suicidal thoughts toward crisis resources. The sponsor argued that these safeguards could protect children without stopping useful innovation, citing studies on teenagers' chatbot use and emotional reliance. A second member supported the bill based on a study committee's work and testimony from families about harm involving chatbots. That member said parents needed more usable controls and urged future work on addictive design. One amendment preserved other available legal remedies. A second required age verification before access to AI services capable of producing sexually explicit content. A technical amendment corrected numbering within that amendment. All three were adopted without objection. The Senate adopted the amended committee substitute and passed the bill, 54 to 0.

6. House Technology and Infrastructure Innovation Committee, March 19, 2026

   From 0:52:51 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 540 would require AI disclosures, age checks, parental controls and crisis referrals, while restricting sexual interactions, simulated romance and engagement rewards for minors. The sponsor cited studies indicating nearly two-thirds of teenagers use chatbots and more than half seek emotional support. The sponsor described Senate changes broadening coverage of accessible chatbots and revising age checks. Members questioned disclosure triggers, reward restrictions, mental-health provisions, AI toys, exclusions, app-store responsibility and the age defining a minor. The sponsor excluded app stores, promised the age reference and left several wording questions for follow-up. Members questioned emotional-dependence language and whether reasonable-measures requirements were enforceable; another member supported that standard. A Technology Association of Georgia witness offered examples and possible standards. One member warned that a Senate increase from $1,000 to $10,000 per violation could overwhelm startups and requested consistent AI definitions. The sponsor welcomed suggestions but rejected allowing individuals to sue. Frontline and Georgia Catholic Conference witnesses supported the measure. OpenAI supported it but requested stronger age estimation, annual youth-risk assessments, parental controls, risk notifications and independent audits. The chair planned further work on changes and responsibility for misuse. No amendment or vote occurred.

7. House Technology and Infrastructure Innovation Committee, March 24, 2026

   From 0:27:19 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair explained that the revised SB 540 narrowed its scope from conversational AI to companion chatbots. The chair described requirements for crisis-response protocols, referrals to 988, parental controls, disclosures that users are interacting with a chatbot, and age checks before access to certain features. The chair said operators would have an opportunity to correct a first violation before further enforcement. One committee member argued that app stores should bear responsibility for harmful products they sell. The chair responded that chatbots can also be accessed through websites and that operators could change an initially harmless product after download. The sponsor said the bill focused on chatbot operations, including sexually explicit synthetic content. Another member raised concerns about retaining minors’ age-verification data. The committee adopted an amendment limiting that information to age verification and retention to 24 hours or a longer period required by law. A second member proposed prohibiting chatbot statements encouraging self-harm, citing testimony at the previous hearing. The committee adopted that amendment and a third amendment updating the title’s crisis-response wording to refer to AI companion chatbots. All three amendments and the amended bill passed by voice vote, with no opposition heard. The chair announced that the bill would move to Rules.

8. House floor session, March 25, 2026 (legislative day 37, PM)

   From 2:12:58 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 3209

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The presenter said the Rules Committee substitute would regulate AI companion chatbots designed to sustain human-like relationships, excluding internal business, customer service and narrowly defined educational tools. The presenter said users would receive an AI disclosure initially and every three hours for adults or every hour for minors. The presenter described restrictions on sexual content and emotional engagement tactics involving minors, mental health safeguards and reporting, parental screen-time tools, age verification and data retention rules. Enforcement would rest with the attorney general, who could allow a 30-day correction period for a first violation. The presenter said the July 1, 2027, effective date would leave time for federal action. One member raised reports linking chatbots to suicides, which the presenter acknowledged. Others asked why the bill covered companion chatbots rather than all AI and whether ChatGPT or Grok would qualify. The presenter said coverage depended on the relationship-focused definition but declined to speak for companies' interpretations. The House adopted the Rules Committee substitute and passed the bill, 166-0.

9. House Rules Committee, March 25, 2026

   From 0:38:17 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 3209

   Summary by Georgia Commons: The presenter said the substitute would require AI chatbots to tell users they are interacting with software rather than a person, every hour for minors and every three hours for adults. The presenter cited concerns about chatbots encouraging suicide and discouraging users from discussing feelings with parents. Asked how the substitute differed from the version approved in committee the previous day, the presenter said the full list of changes was not available. In response to another member, the presenter confirmed that the measure required age verification and had separate requirements for minors and adults. The committee approved substitute LC64-0123S without voiced opposition and later placed it on the supplemental calendar without voiced opposition.

10. Senate floor session, March 27, 2026 (legislative day 38)

    From 8:00:50 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub)

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 540 would protect children interacting with AI services. The clerk described disclosures and age verification for AI companion chatbots. The sponsor said the House strengthened protections against emotional manipulation and dependency, tightened enforcement and authorized attorney general rules and guidance. The sponsor said the effective date moved to July 2027 to allow time for federal action, compliance and any needed changes during the next legislative session. No questions or opposition followed. The vote to agree to the House substitute was 44-1.

• Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 20, 2026 (legislative day 22), 0:38:35
• Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 25, 2026 (legislative day 24), 0:32:47
• Read aloud: Senate floor session, February 26, 2026 (legislative day 25), 0:29:33
• Read aloud: House floor session, March 9, 2026 (legislative day 29), 0:57:00
• Read aloud: House floor session, March 10, 2026 (legislative day 30), 0:44:54

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