Regulon — WA-HB-1170 · WA HB 1170 (AI Content Provenance & Government AI Disclosure)

2025-01-06 introduced Prefiled for introduction.

2025-01-13 introduced First reading, referred to Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans.

2025-01-17 Public hearing in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM. Public hearing in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM.

2025-01-28 committee passage TEDV - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass.

2025-01-28 Executive action taken in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM. Executive action taken in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM.

2025-01-28 Minority; do not pass. Minority; do not pass.

2025-01-31 committee referral Referred to Rules 2 Review.

2026-01-12 introduced By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

2026-01-12 committee referral Referred to Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans.

2026-01-12 Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Rules Committee relieved of further consideration.

2026-01-14 Public hearing in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 8:00 AM. Public hearing in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 8:00 AM.

2026-01-16 committee passage TEDV - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass.

2026-01-16 Executive action taken in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM. Executive action taken in the House Committee on Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans at 10:30 AM.

2026-01-16 Minority; do not pass. Minority; do not pass.

2026-01-20 committee referral Referred to Appropriations.

2026-01-26 Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 4:00 PM. Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 4:00 PM.

2026-02-02 committee passage APP - Majority; do pass 2nd substitute bill proposed by Technology, Economic Development, & Veterans.

2026-02-02 Executive action taken in the House Committee on Appropriations at 4:00 PM. Executive action taken in the House Committee on Appropriations at 4:00 PM.

2026-02-02 Minority; do not pass. Minority; do not pass.

2026-02-04 committee referral Referred to Rules 2 Review.

2026-02-10 Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading. Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.

2026-02-13 amendment Floor amendment

2026-02-13 chamber passage Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.

2026-02-13 chamber passage Third reading, passed; yeas, 56; nays, 37; absent, 0; excused, 5.

2026-02-13 2nd substitute bill substituted 2nd substitute bill substituted

2026-02-17 introduced First reading, referred to Environment, Energy & Technology.

2026-02-20 Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology at 10:30 AM. Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology at 10:30 AM.

2026-02-24 committee passage ENET - Majority; do pass with amendment

2026-02-24 Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology at 1:30 PM. Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology at 1:30 PM.

2026-02-24 And refer to Ways & Means. And refer to Ways & Means.

2026-02-24 Minority; without recommendation. Minority; without recommendation.

2026-02-25 committee referral Referred to Ways & Means.

2026-02-27 Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 2:30 PM. Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 2:30 PM.

2026-03-02 committee passage WM - Majority; do pass with amendment

2026-03-02 Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 10:30 AM. Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 10:30 AM.

2026-03-02 Minority; without recommendation. Minority; without recommendation.

2026-03-02 Passed to Rules Committee for second reading. Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.

2026-03-03 Placed on second reading by Rules Committee. Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.

2026-03-04 chamber passage Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.

2026-03-04 chamber passage Third reading, passed; yeas, 46; nays, 3; absent, 0; excused, 0.

2026-03-04 Committee amendment Committee amendment

2026-03-11 chamber passage House concurred in Senate amendments.

2026-03-11 Passed final passage; yeas, 55; nays, 38; absent, 0; excused, 5. Passed final passage; yeas, 55; nays, 38; absent, 0; excused, 5.

2026-03-11 Speaker signed. Speaker signed.

2026-03-11 President signed. President signed.

2026-03-12 Delivered to Governor. Delivered to Governor.

2026-03-24 effective Effective date 2/1/2027.

2026-03-24 Governor signed. Governor signed.

2026-03-24 Chapter 167, 2026 Laws. Chapter 167, 2026 Laws.

Summary

Requires covered providers — entities that create generative AI systems with over 1 million monthly users accessible to Washington consumers — to embed provenance data in AI-generated or materially altered image, video, or audio content, using commercially and technically reasonable methods that make the data difficult to remove. Compliance with a commonly supported technical standard such as C2PA is deemed compliant. Separately, government agencies that make AI systems available to interact with consumers must unconditionally disclose to each consumer that they are interacting with an AI system. Enforcement of the covered provider chapter is limited to the Attorney General under the Consumer Protection Act; no private right of action is created. The act takes effect February 1, 2027.

Enforcement & Penalties

Enforcement Authority

Attorney General enforcement only. The Attorney General may bring an action in the name of the state, or as parens patriae on behalf of persons residing in the state, to enforce the chapter. Violations are deemed unfair or deceptive acts in trade or commerce and unfair methods of competition under the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW, but only the Attorney General may bring an action under the CPA pursuant to this section. No private right of action is created. The government agency AI disclosure obligation in Section 6 is codified in a separate chapter (Title 42 RCW) and has no express enforcement mechanism specified in the bill.

Penalties

Violations of the covered provider chapter (Sections 1-5) are per se unfair or deceptive acts in trade or commerce under the Consumer Protection Act, chapter 19.86 RCW. Remedies available to the Attorney General under the CPA include civil penalties up to $7,500 per violation (RCW 19.86.140), injunctive relief, restitution, and costs. No statutory minimum is specified in the bill itself. The government agency disclosure provision (Section 6) has no express penalty or remedy specified.

Who Is Covered

"Covered provider" means a person or entity that creates, codes, or otherwise produces a generative artificial intelligence system that has over 1,000,000 monthly users and is publicly accessible within the geographic boundaries of the state to consumers for personal use. "Covered provider" does not include state, local, and tribal governments.

What Is Covered

"Generative artificial intelligence" means technology that uses machine learning, including deep learning models, natural language processing, or other computational processing techniques of similar or greater complexity, to generate images, audio, or video.

Compliance Obligations 3 obligations · click obligation ID to open requirement page

T-02 AI Content Labeling & Provenance · T-02.2 T-02.3 · Developer · Content Generation

Sec. 2(1)-(4)

Plain Language

Covered providers must embed provenance data in any image, video, or audio content created or materially altered by their generative AI system, to the extent commercially and technically reasonable. The provenance data must enable users to assess whether the content was AI-generated or materially altered. Providers must also use commercially and technically reasonable methods to make the provenance data tamper-resistant. Use of a commonly supported technical standard such as C2PA is deemed compliant with the tamper-resistance requirement. Provenance data may not include personal information about identifiable individuals. "Materially altered" excludes routine editing adjustments like brightness, color, cropping, resizing, format conversion, and audio noise removal. The chapter does not apply to video games, interactive e-commerce experiences, or systems used solely for upscaling, noise reduction, or compression, and does not apply to B2B uses, sales, licensing, or distribution of generative AI systems.

Statutory Text

(1) To the extent commercially and technically reasonable, a covered provider shall include provenance data in any video, image, or audio content, or content that is any combination thereof, created or materially altered by the covered provider's generative artificial intelligence system and that is subject to the terms of this chapter. The provenance data must allow a user to assess whether image, video, or audio content, or content that is any combination thereof, was created or materially altered by the covered provider's generative artificial intelligence system. (2) A covered provider must use commercially and technically reasonable methods to make the provenance data difficult to remove or tamper with. The use of a commonly supported technical standard for watermarking or metadata, such as the coalition for content provenance and authenticity specification, for provenance data is considered compliant with this subsection. (3) A covered provider may not be required under this section to include any information relating to an identified or reasonably identifiable individual in provenance data included in content created or content materially altered by the covered provider's generative artificial intelligence system. (4) For the purposes of this section, "materially altered" means a significant change that substantially alters the data in content. "Materially altered" does not include minor modifications that do not lead to significant changes to the perceived content or meaning of the content. Minor modifications include: Changes to brightness, contrast, or color; sharpening; saturating; applying filters; resizing; scaling; cropping; format conversions; resampling; denoising; and removal of background noise in audio.

T-01 AI Identity Disclosure · T-01.1 · Government · Government System

Sec. 6(1)-(4)

Plain Language

Any government agency that deploys an AI system intended to interact with consumers must unconditionally disclose to each consumer — before or at the start of interaction — that the consumer is interacting with AI. This obligation applies regardless of whether a reasonable consumer would already realize they are dealing with an AI system. The disclosure must be clear, conspicuously posted, written in plain language, and may not use a dark pattern. The disclosure may be delivered via a hyperlink to a separate page. Note that this provision is codified in Title 42 RCW (public agencies) and has no express enforcement mechanism or penalty specified in the bill, unlike the covered provider provisions enforced by the AG under the CPA.

Statutory Text

(1) A government agency that makes available an artificial intelligence system intended to interact with consumers must disclose to each consumer, before or at the time of interaction, that the consumer is interacting with an artificial intelligence system. The disclosure must be: (a) Clear and conspicuously posted; (b) Written in plain language; and (c) May not use a dark pattern. (2) The disclosure may be provided by using a hyperlink to direct a consumer to a separate web page. (3) An agency is required to make the disclosure under subsection (1) of this section regardless of whether it would be obvious to a reasonable consumer that the consumer is interacting with an artificial intelligence system. (4) For the purposes of this section, "artificial intelligence system" has the same meaning as in section 1 of this act.

Other · Content Generation

Sec. 4(1)-(3)

Plain Language

This provision establishes the enforcement framework for the covered provider chapter: waivers are void and unenforceable, the Attorney General may bring enforcement actions under the Consumer Protection Act, and violations are per se unfair or deceptive acts. Critically, only the Attorney General may sue under the CPA — no private right of action is created. This provision creates no independent compliance obligation; it activates and limits the enforcement mechanism for the substantive obligations in Section 2.

Statutory Text

(1) Any waiver of the provisions of this chapter is contrary to public policy and is void and unenforceable. (2) The attorney general may bring an action in the name of the state, or as parens patriae on behalf of persons residing in the state, to enforce this chapter. For actions brought by the attorney general to enforce this chapter, the legislature finds that the practices covered by this chapter are matters vitally affecting the public interest for the purpose of applying the consumer protection act, chapter 19.86 RCW. For actions brought by the attorney general to enforce this chapter, a violation of this chapter is not reasonable in relation to the development and preservation of business and is an unfair or deceptive act in trade or commerce and an unfair method of competition for purposes of applying the consumer protection act, chapter 19.86 RCW. (3) Only the attorney general can bring an action under the consumer protection act, chapter 19.86 RCW, pursuant to this section.