Tracker
AI laws and rules tracker 2026
AI laws, bills, executive orders, court rulings, regulator proposals and international agreements from our reporting, with their status and next deadlines, and the sourced story behind each one.
A proposal is not a law, an investigation is not a finding, and a fact sheet is not a working agreement. The status pill says how far each item has come.
October 2026
- Connecticut’s AI law: first duties in forceConnecticutIn force Oct 1State law
Employers must say whether mass layoffs relate to AI; frontier AI developers may not retaliate against staff who report catastrophic risks; AI subscriptions and AI-made media get disclosure rules.
Next step Companion chatbot rules on January 1, 2027
Connecticut’s AI rules on layoffs and whistleblowers start
September 2026
- California’s No Robo Bosses Act (SB 947) signedCaliforniaSigned; applies July 1, 2027State law
Employers may not discipline or fire workers based solely on an automated decision system. A human must corroborate decisions that rely mainly on one, and workers get written notice.
Penalty $500 per violation; enforced by the Labor Commissioner and prosecutors
California bars firing or disciplining workers by AI alone - FTC confirms an investigation into OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI labsUS Federal Trade CommissionOpen; demands being draftedInvestigation
The consumer-protection agency plans to request information from the labs and the research group METR. Officials say it wants executives to testify.
Next step Formal demands for documents and testimony
FTC is investigating OpenAI and Anthropic over AI risks - LASST sues OpenAI over its agents’ Hugging Face hackSuperior Court of California, San FranciscoFiledLawsuit
A nonprofit legal group asks for an order that bars OpenAI and its AI agents from accessing computer systems without permission. It seeks no damages.
Laws cited Unfair competition law; computer fraud law; the rule that “the AI did it” is no defence
Nonprofit sues OpenAI over its agents’ Hugging Face hack - Appeals court upholds Thomson Reuters’ AI training win over RossUS Court of Appeals, Third CircuitAffirmed; opinion sealedCourt ruling
The first US appeals ruling on fair use in an AI training case rejects Ross Intelligence’s defence. The case involves a legal search tool, not generative AI.
Next step Redactions due within 10 days, then the opinion is published
Appeals court rejects fair use for Ross’s AI training - AI companies sign a voluntary White House accordWhite House and AI companiesSigned; text releasedVoluntary accord
Six AI company leaders signed four layers of voluntary checks: internal controls, an internal team, an outside auditor and a board committee. No deadlines or penalties.
Next step The companies are to “meet regularly” to set standards
Published AI accord asks for auditors and board oversight - Executive order: “Super Intelligence” replaces “AI” in federal documentsUS PresidentSignedExecutive order
Federal agencies must write “Super Intelligence” and “SI” instead of “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI”. The meaning stays the same as the current legal definition.
Deadline Proposed legal definition due within 60 days
Trump orders agencies to say “Super Intelligence”, not AI - Google challenges the EU’s AI and search-data orders in courtGoogle v European CommissionFiledCourt challenge
Google asks the EU General Court to overturn two July 16 Digital Markets Act decisions: equal Android access for rival AI assistants, and sharing search data with rival search engines and AI chatbots.
Deadline Android measures due by August 1, 2027
Google sues to block EU orders opening Android to AI rivals - Florida seeks a temporary injunction against OpenAIFlorida Attorney GeneralPendingCourt filing
Asks a Highlands County court to bar new OpenAI models without independent safety approval and to stop ChatGPT for Florida minors, while the state’s June lawsuit goes on.
Next step No hearing date set yet
Florida wants no new OpenAI models without outside approval - Altman and Amodei asked to appear before Australia’s Senate AI inquiryAustralian SenateRequests sentParliamentary inquiry
The inquiry chair, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, sent written requests to both CEOs after an OpenAI agent reached a Medicare portal in June. Neither company has said whether they will attend.
Next step Hearing on October 1 in Canberra
Australia’s Senate calls Altman and Amodei to a hearing - Beijing signals approval for Nvidia RTX Pro 5500 purchasesChina’s Ministry of Industry and Information TechnologyReported, unconfirmedRegulator move
The ministry asked ByteDance, Alibaba and others to report their purchase plans and told some it intends to approve them, The Information reports. Reuters could not verify the report, and Nvidia did not confirm it.
China may let firms buy Nvidia’s RTX Pro 5500, report says - Pentagon may keep its “supply chain risk” label on AnthropicUS Court of Appeals, D.C. CircuitRuled 2–1Court ruling
The label lets the Defense Department remove Claude from its systems and bar contractors from using it in Pentagon work. Anthropic is considering further review.
A US appeals court let the Pentagon keep its Anthropic ban - US–China “Super Intelligence” dialogue and incident channelUnited States and ChinaAgreed on paperInternational agreement
A White House fact sheet lists a new dialogue on AI risks and benefits, with the next talks due by November, and a direct channel for incidents. Neither side has said how the channel will work.
Next step Talks by November 2026
The US and China will set up a channel for AI incidents - Kill switch and outside checks for every AI system in New York CityNew York City CouncilProposedCity bill
The main bill would make it unlawful to sell or deploy an AI system in the city without third-party validation and a human kill switch, with fines of $25,000 per violation.
Next step Hearing on October 5
New York City proposes a kill switch for every AI system - UN Security Council meeting on AI risksUN Security CouncilNo resolutionUN meeting
Yoshua Bengio, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Clément Delangue urged countries to work together; Amodei proposed narrow global bans and shared safety tests. No statement or resolution was adopted.
Altman and Amodei warned the UN Security Council of AI risks - AI assistants on Google’s search choice screensUK Competition and Markets AuthorityProposedRegulator proposal
A choice screen for new Android phones and for Chrome that can list up to 12 services, including AI assistants that meet technical and security criteria.
Next step Comments due October 9
UK regulator wants AI assistants on Google’s choice screens - “AI Force” and an AI czarUS PresidentAnnounced, no detailsFederal plan
The president said he is forming an AI Force like the Space Force and will name an AI czar, with no details on either role.
Trump promised an “AI Force” and a new AI czar - Call for global checks on the most powerful AI20 countries and the European CommissionUS did not signInternational declaration
Leaders called for safety tests, shared incident reports and a possible new international AI body. The United States rejected what the White House called a globalist scheme of control.
Twenty countries asked for global checks on powerful AI - Ratepayer Protection Act: large data centres and grid costsUS House of RepresentativesPassed the House 417–3Federal bill
Asks state regulators to consider special rules for sites above 100 megawatts. It does not set one national price.
US House says huge data centres should pay their grid costs - Executive Order N-9-26: auditors, checks and an emergency shutoffCaliforniaSignedExecutive order
State agencies must recommend how to add onsite auditors, independent checks and an emergency shutoff for the most powerful AI models.
Deadline Recommendations due November 16
California wants a plan for an AI “kill switch” - Letter asking Congress to stay for AI safeguardsFour members of the US HouseNo vote promisedLetter
The members asked Speaker Mike Johnson to keep the House in Washington until it advances bipartisan AI rules.
Four House members ask Congress to return for AI safeguards - Justice Department examines Nvidia’s Groq dealUS Justice DepartmentUnder reviewInvestigation
Reports say the department is studying a licensing deal that moved Groq leaders to Nvidia without buying the company. An investigation is not a finding of wrongdoing.
US officials are examining Nvidia’s unusual Groq deal - Independent AI checks and a state list of auditorsCaliforniaSignedState law
Two laws create a framework for independent checks of AI systems and a state list of auditors.
California signed rules for independent AI checks - Eight priorities for AI in educationEducation ministers at UNESCONon-bindingDeclaration
More than 25 ministers and representatives called for teacher control, age-aware safeguards, data rights and systems that help students think.
Education ministers want AI to aid thinking, not replace it - Rules for AI that uses brain dataEuropean Union expert groupAdvice, not lawExpert advice
The group says policy should cover the full path from brain data to AI models and later uses.
EU ethics experts want rules for AI that uses brain data - Two newspapers sue OpenAI and Microsoft over copyrightThe Seattle Times and NewsdayFiledLawsuit
The papers say the companies copied paid articles without permission. A court must decide whether copyright law was broken.
Two newspapers are suing OpenAI and Microsoft - Ban on superintelligent AI and a pause on advanced AIBernie Sanders and Greg CasarAnnouncedFederal bill
A plan for a temporary pause on advanced AI and a permanent ban on superintelligence. The full legal details are not yet clear.
US lawmakers want to ban superintelligent AI - Training AI on copyrighted work can be fair useUS Justice DepartmentCourt filingGovernment position
The department told a court that training AI on copyrighted work can be fair use. The judge still makes the legal decision.
The US government supports OpenAI in a major copyright case
How this tracker works
An entry appears when one of our stories covers a law, a bill, an executive order, a court ruling, a regulator’s move or an international agreement on AI. The date is the one the story gives; when a story gives none, it is the story’s own date. We add entries with each edition and correct them under the story when a fact changes.
Reusing this list: you may quote it with a link to this page. Facts belong to the sources each story cites.