Tennessee AI chatbot law

The bill page says SB 1580, companion to HB 1470, was signed by the governor on April 1, 2026, became Public Chapter 647, and is effective July 1, 2026. The caption prohibits a person from developing or deploying an artificial intelligence system that advertises or represents to the public that the system is, or is able to act as, a qualified mental health professional. A violation is an unfair or deceptive act under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, with a civil penalty of $5,000 per violation.

A TACIR research note describes this chapter the same way and notes that broader chatbot bills in that session did not become this statute. Do not widen SB 1580 into a romance ban or an hourly disclosure rule. Those duties, where they exist, are in other states' texts.

Calling every 2026 state bill an AI companion law flattens real differences. Tennessee's live rule is about false mental-health credentials. A family choosing a wellness app still needs that fact. A company building disclosure timers needs a different state's statute.

These state laws are not copies of each other. A duty in one state may be missing in the next, and a signature date is not always the day the duties bind. Whether Congress will override some of them is a live debate, described on the federal AI preemption page. Until a federal statute does that, read the state text that applies to you.

Tennessee's law, effective July 1, 2026, bars advertising an AI system as a qualified mental health professional. HeyOtto does not advertise therapy. Otto is not a clinician. If a child is in distress, the chat shows crisis resources and the parent gets an alert.

• Parents can read chats in the parent dashboard.
• Distress produces an alert and crisis resources, not an automatic call to emergency services.
• HeyOtto does not claim this statute is already satisfied.