is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
As usual, 2025 was a year of deep congressional dysfunction in the US. But state legislatures were passing laws that govern everything from AI to social media to the right to repair. Many of these laws, alongside rules passed in past years, take effect in 2026 — either right now or in the coming months.
As of January 1st, Americans should have the right to crypto ATM refunds in Colorado, wide-ranging electronics repairs in Colorado and Washington, and AI system transparency in California, among other things. But a last-minute court ruling offered a reprieve from one high-profile state law: Texas’ App Store-based age verification rule.
For a longer rundown of tech-related regulations that go into force in 2026 — including a major piece of one federal law, the Take It Down Act — read on.
January 1st
California: AI transparency, chatbots, and more
California passed a parcel of AI-related rules last year. The most prominent is SB 53: a transparency law that requires major AI companies to publish safety and security details and protects whistleblowers. It’s a revised version of SB 1047, which Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed after a heated fight in 2024, and it goes into effect on January 1st, 2026.
Several other bills deal with more specific implementations of AI. Among them is SB 243, one of the first regulations on so-called companion chatbots, requiring them to maintain protocols for preventing suicidal ideation and self-harm, as well as remind known underage users every few hours that the system isn’t human. SB 524, another of the bills, requires law enforcement agencies to “conspicuously” disclose how they use AI.
All this has set up California as a test case for how far state AI laws can push, especially as Donald Trump’s administration aims to ban them altogether. That fight, too, is poised to play out in 2026.
... continue reading