Status: Enacted — Signed by Governor Jared Polis on May 29, 2026. Effective January 1, 2027.
Bill Number: Colorado HB 26-1263 (2026 Regular Session) — Conversational Artificial Intelligence Service Operator Requirements
Jurisdiction: Colorado
Category: AI Governance, Conversational AI, Companion Chatbots, Minor Safety, Consumer Protection
Industries: Consumer Technology, Conversational AI Platforms, Social Media, EdTech, Healthcare-adjacent Digital Services
Enacted Date: May 29, 2026
Effective Date: January 1, 2027
Summary: Colorado HB 26-1263 establishes operator obligations for conversational and companion AI services, making Colorado the first U.S. state to regulate AI chatbots specifically to protect minors. Signed by Governor Polis on May 29, 2026 after passing the House 42-22 and the Senate 24-11, the bipartisan law requires chatbot operators to disclose that users are interacting with AI rather than a human, to implement crisis-response protocols when a user signals suicidal ideation or self-harm, and to bar sexually explicit content and manipulative emotional-dependency tactics directed at users under 18. It joins a fast-moving national wave of conversational-AI safety statutes that includes the Washington AI Companion Chatbot Safety Act (HB 2225), the Georgia Conversational AI Safety Act (SB 540), and parallel bills enacted or advancing in more than two dozen states during the 2026 sessions.
Key Requirements:
- AI Disclosure: Operators must clearly disclose to users that they are interacting with an artificial intelligence system and not a human.
- Crisis-Response Protocol: Operators must implement a response protocol for prompts involving suicidal ideation or self-harm and surface appropriate crisis resources; they are prohibited from implying that chatbot-provided information is equivalent to licensed professional care.
- Minor Protections: Operators are prohibited from generating sexual content for users under 18, from using false emotional-dependency tactics, and from offering points or rewards that gamify and encourage continued engagement by minors.
- Parental Controls: Operators must provide parental control tools for account holders under 13 years of age.
- Enforcement: Violations are enforced under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, carrying penalties of up to $20,000 per violation with no statutory cap on total liability. Liability falls on chatbot operators, not on upstream model developers.
Legislative Context: HB 26-1263 was sponsored by Representatives Sean Camacho and Javier Mabrey and Senators Iman Jodeh and John Carson, and reflects bipartisan concern over documented harms to minors interacting with companion chatbots. It is part of Colorado's broader 2026 AI package alongside HB 26-1195 (restrictions on AI in psychotherapy), HB 26-1139 (AI in health care), and SB 26-189 (the lighter-touch replacement for Colorado's 2024 AI Act). Colorado's chatbot model — disclosure, crisis protocols, and minor-specific safeguards — closely mirrors the design adopted in Washington, Georgia, and Arizona's pending HB 2311.
Affected Entities: Operators of conversational and companion AI services made available to Colorado residents, including national consumer chatbot platforms and any business deploying a customer-facing conversational agent that could be accessed by minors. The law regulates conversational AI products and does not reach event-based visual analytics, video monitoring, or physical security detection systems.
Compliance Outlook: Conversational-AI operators serving Colorado users should map every interaction surface where a minor could access the product, implement age-appropriate disclosures and parental controls, and stand up a documented suicide- and self-harm-response protocol before the January 1, 2027 effective date. Because Colorado, Washington, Georgia, and several other states converge on the same core obligations, operators will likely build a single multi-state conversational-AI compliance program. The law has no operational impact on physical security or computer-vision platforms.
IntelliSee Relevance: Adjacent — AI Governance Context. HB 26-1263 regulates conversational and companion chatbots; it does not regulate physical security AI, video analytics, or weapons-detection systems. IntelliSee's AI operates on live camera feeds to detect physical threats and has no conversational or chatbot component, so the law carries no direct compliance obligation for IntelliSee deployments. It is tracked because Colorado security and risk leaders in K-12 and higher education, healthcare, and municipal facilities benefit from awareness of the state's expanding AI governance framework. Colorado customers evaluating IntelliSee for AI gun detection, fall detection, and aggressive-behavior monitoring should note these tools sit outside the conversational-AI regulatory perimeter. See the State-by-State AI Security Legislation Tracker for the full Colorado regulatory picture.
Compliance Timeline
- Spring 2026 — HB 26-1263 passes the Colorado House (42-22) and Senate (24-11) with bipartisan support.
- May 29, 2026 — Governor Jared Polis signs HB 26-1263 into law.
- January 1, 2027 — Operative date; conversational AI operators must have disclosures, crisis protocols, and minor protections in place.