Virginia Weighs AI Chatbot Rules Amid Rising Safety Concerns

Virginia lawmakers are developing potential regulations for AI chatbots following high-profile incidents involving minors, even as scientific understanding of these technologies remains incomplete.

The state's Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) has produced two reports examining AI chatbots and their effects on young users, with particular attention to so-called companion chatbots designed for emotional or intimate conversations. The work comes after two bills addressing chatbot safety for minors failed in the 2026 legislative session, largely due to concerns about federal AI policy and potential loss of broadband funding.

Dr. Kira Allmann, JCOTS chief policy analyst, told Tech Policy Press that the distinction between companion chatbots and general-purpose AI assistants may not be meaningful from a policy perspective. What matters most is chatbot behavior and design features that enable emotional connections, regardless of how companies market their products.

Why it matters

Virginia's approach reflects a broader tension facing state legislatures nationwide: whether to act on observable harms from emerging technologies before comprehensive scientific evidence exists. The state's analysis draws explicit parallels to social media regulation, where delayed policy action allowed documented harms to persist for years before recent litigation and settlements.

Learning from social media's policy failures

The supplementary JCOTS report identifies three key lessons from social media policy that apply to AI chatbot regulation:

Voluntary industry commitments have proven largely ineffective at addressing harms. Policymakers cannot rely solely on scientific evidence for timely interventions. Lack of public data and transparency from companies has delayed meaningful action.

Allmann, an anthropologist by training, emphasized that understanding human-technology interactions requires time and robust research. ChatGPT entered mainstream use only in 2022, and the full impacts of chatbot interactions are just beginning to surface. However, she noted that some dynamics mirror familiar patterns from other technologies.

Federal pressure and state action

Multiple AI-related bills stalled in Virginia's 2026 session after a December 2025 White House executive order warned of potential consequences for states passing what it termed "onerous" AI laws. The threat of losing federal broadband funding created what Allmann described as a "dramatic chilling effect" on state AI legislation.

Despite these constraints, JCOTS continues examining policy options for mitigating chatbot-related harms, particularly following publicized cases involving suicide and mental health crises linked to chatbot use.

The commission's work aims to provide Virginia legislators with actionable policy options while acknowledging the evolving nature of both the technology and scientific understanding. Allmann stressed that policymakers often must address observable harms while simultaneously building the evidence base, rather than waiting for complete scientific consensus.

These details were first reported by Tech Policy Press in a September 2026 interview with Dr. Kira Allmann.