AI laws and rules tracker 2026

Ballotpedia counted 41 measures before the vote, 28 that limit data centres and 13 that help them. By the morning of November 4, one early count showed 33 restrictions approved and one measure allowing data centres. Some votes are advisory.

Next step Official counts are still to come; Clarksville, Arkansas, votes on data centre bonds on December 1

Act 99 of 2026 bars ads that use AI-made or AI-changed images, video or sound to give a false picture of a product or service, unless they clearly say they contain AI content. Text-only content, parody and plain fiction are left out.

Penalty Civil fine of up to $3,000, plus legal fees and court costs, sought by the Attorney General or a district attorney

A draft rule under the COINS Act would ban US investment in companies in China and other countries of concern that develop any AI system. It adds supercomputing, hypersonic systems and biotechnology, and Russia, Iran, North Korea and Cuba.

Next step Comments close December 7, 2026; a final rule will set the start date, and the current rules apply until then

An order released on July 24 bans federal civilian agencies from buying DeepSeek’s products, including others’ products built on it, and tells them to remove them. It calls DeepSeek a security risk; it does not say DeepSeek broke a law.

Next step Reviewed within one year, then every year; military and intelligence systems are not covered

The CMA proposes the status for Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, Copilot and Microsoft’s security, server and operating system products. It would let the CMA set conduct rules later. Microsoft disagrees.

Deadline Final decision by February 13, 2027; first areas: AI tools and Copilot, security bundling, cloud licences

A draft adds 40 technologies to China’s list of banned or licensed exports, 23 of them in AI: large models, agents and computing clusters. Offering a model abroad through an API or an app would not count as an export.

Next step Comments close November 15; until the new list takes effect, exporters must register these technologies

The task force adopted its charter, set up three committees and asked PCAST for a report on AI risks. Emil Michael will develop protocols for AI labs to give the government early warnings of breaches and hacks.

Next step No reporting rules, deadline or penalty published yet

After Anthropic reported its incidents, the task force said AI companies must disclose incidents involving their models at once and fix any harm.

Next step No order, deadline or penalty has been published

The ministry called the FSD name somewhat misleading; Tesla now calls the system Tesla Assisted Driving in Europe. Germany will support EU-wide approval, with at most 10% above the speed limit.

Next step EU committee vote in December at the earliest; no date set

An invisible watermark goes into eligible ChatGPT and Codex text for EU users over the coming weeks; API customers anywhere can opt in. The detector is limited to approved researchers at first.

Next step EU rollout over the coming weeks; no fixed date given

Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Meta sent policy and safety staff to a hearing of all 51 Council members on AI risks. SpaceXAI stayed away despite a subpoena.

Next step 10 bills under consideration; the Council plans to ask a court to enforce the SpaceXAI subpoena

Would cover public gathering places such as parks and shopping centres, children’s places such as schools, and private places such as gym changing rooms. Not a total ban; an expert group will advise on permanent rules.

Timing Bill to parliament “as soon as possible”; no start date yet

A Truth Social post sets up a group chaired by Jay Clayton, with Andrew Ferguson, Emil Michael and Scott Kupor, to coordinate federal AI work. It reports to Trump and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

Deadline 120 days to report on AI’s risks and opportunities, per Clayton’s interview with The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal reports that Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton is the new AI czar and will lead a task force with 120 days to report on AI’s risks, opportunities and the federal government’s role.

Confirmation Clayton spoke on the record to the Journal and on CNBC

A one-line order grants xAI an injunction pending appeal, so Minnesota cannot enforce its ban on AI tools that create fake nude images of real people against the company while the case goes on.

Reach Interim order with no reasons; the law’s constitutionality is not yet decided

A memo from Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle creates FASCOM and a Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Autonomy, with priority autonomous systems to be fielded by fiscal 2028.

Context Follows Hegseth’s September 30 plan for a Pentagon Autonomous Warfare Command

In United States v. Kyle, Judge Sara E. Hill found a deputy’s search of Flock and VehicleManager plate-reader data was a Fourth Amendment search without a warrant, and called such networks indiscriminate mass surveillance.

Reach One district court, one criminal case; other courts have ruled the other way

Prosecutors allege Greg Lui’s company used false paperwork to ship export-controlled GPU servers to China through Malaysia and Singapore in 2023 and 2024. Three counts; no conviction.

Maximum sentence 20 years each for the two conspiracy counts

Rob Bonta’s office is asking OpenAI more questions about cybersecurity incidents and risks involving its AI models, after its agents broke into Hugging Face. No charge has been filed.

Not public Which documents are demanded and the deadline

Employers must say whether mass layoffs relate to AI; frontier AI developers may not retaliate against staff who report catastrophic risks; big AI image, audio and video tools get subscription and provenance rules.

Next step Companion chatbot rules on January 1, 2027

Judge Amit Mehta found the publishers had shown no agreement that obliged Google to send them traffic, only an expectation. He said he was not unsympathetic to their situation.

Earlier ruling He dismissed similar claims by two smaller publishers in March

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

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

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

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

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

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

Issued after SpaceXAI did not answer the Council’s questions on AI risks, ahead of the October 5 hearing. Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Meta testified under oath; SpaceXAI stayed away.

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

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

The inquiry chair, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, sent written requests to both CEOs after an OpenAI agent reached a Medicare portal in June.

Outcome Neither attended the October 1 hearing in Canberra; both companies cited the short notice (Reuters, September 28)

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.

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 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 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

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.

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

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.

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.

Asks state regulators to consider special rules for sites above 100 megawatts. It does not set one national price.

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

The members asked Speaker Mike Johnson to keep the House in Washington until it advances bipartisan AI rules.

Stronger chatbot safeguards, a ban on some addictive feed features for users under 16, and child privacy rules.

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.

Two laws create a framework for independent checks of AI systems and a state list of auditors.

More than 25 ministers and representatives called for teacher control, age-aware safeguards, data rights and systems that help students think.

The group says policy should cover the full path from brain data to AI models and later uses.

The papers say the companies copied paid articles without permission. A court must decide whether copyright law was broken.

A plan for a temporary pause on advanced AI and a permanent ban on superintelligence. The full legal details are not yet clear.

The department told a court that training AI on copyrighted work can be fair use. The judge still makes the legal decision.