Privacy Law Library

Conversational Artificial Intelligence Services Act (2026 SF 2417)

Iowa Conversational AI Act

Artificial intelligence · Children · Health

Iowa's 2026 companion-chatbot law requires public conversational AI services to disclose to minors that they are talking to AI, block sexual content and human-like emotional or romantic manipulation of minors, avoid variable engagement rewards for minors, and give minors and parents privacy and account controls. For all users, operators must disclose AI status when a reasonable person could think it is human, keep suicide and self-harm referral protocols, and not present the bot as a licensed mental health provider. It applies from July 1, 2027.

Where

Iowa

Citation

2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1068 (SF 2417), enacting new Iowa Code ch. 554J (554J.1 to 554J.6 as enacted; final Code numbering pending)

Status

Enacted, not yet in force

In force since

2027-07-01

Enforced by

Iowa Attorney General (with rulemaking authority)

People can sue

No

Penalties

Injunction plus the greater of actual damages or a civil penalty of $1,000 per violation, capped at $500,000 per operator (554J.6(1) as enacted). No private right of action (554J.6(4)).

Applies to

• Operators: persons who develop and make available to the public a conversational AI service whose primary purpose is simulating human conversation (554J.1(2), (4) as enacted)
• Excluded: research tools, features inside other products, narrow-topic tools, business customer-service bots, voice assistants on consumer devices, internal-use tools; app stores and search engines are not operators merely by providing access (554J.1(2)(b), (4))
• Minor protections apply to account holders the operator knows or is reasonably certain are under 18 (554J.1(3))