US state AI bills introduced (legislative year)
Count of state bills in NCSL's artificial-intelligence legislation tracker for the legislative year, with the enacted subset alongside.
Reason through thisThe reading
Counted from NCSL's table, so scraped and pending until a human merges; bills are not laws.
1 reading drawn from ncsl.us.ai_bills_introduced.a, one of 2 series listed under How it is measured; 2 observations in the evidence.
Source: NCSL artificial intelligence legislation tracker. NCSL, Artificial Intelligence 2025 Legislation.
The numbers
| as of | reading | value | record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | us | 1035 | reported |
Why it matters
The institutional response the paper expects to lag deployment; volume says attention, enactments say binding rules.
What cuts against it
A single tracker's classification; introduced bills are cheap signals; the enacted count is the one that binds.
Transparency Coalition: 84 new AI-related laws passed or enacted in 27 states in 2026 by 21 July, a count of laws rather than bills.
“the Transparency Coalition has found that 84 new AI-related laws have been passed and/or enacted across 27 states so far in 2026.”
MultiState: 1,561 AI-related bills introduced in 45 states by March 2026, a count for the session so far rather than the full year.
“As of March 2026, state lawmakers in 45 states have already introduced 1,561 AI-related bills”
How it is measured
- series
ncsl.us.ai_bills_introduced.a - series
ncsl.us.ai_bills_enacted.a - source NCSL artificial intelligence legislation tracker · default tier 6 · NCSL; counts only
- proxy policy · cadence annual · valve adoption to adaptation
Normal = five hundred or more bills a year (the 2024-2025 volume, legislatures reacting at their own speed); fast = under two hundred, legislatures standing aside. Between is emerging.
Applied to ncsl.us.ai_bills_introduced.a.
Latest readings
- 2025-12-31 us · 1035as of 2025-12-31
Why this status, and its history
NCSL's 2025 legislation tracker holds 1,035 state AI bills, of which 170 carry an enacted or signed status, counted from the published table on 11 Sep 2026. Inside the normal band (500 or more a year: legislatures reacting at their own pace). One tracker, scraped, tier 6, so the status is capped at emerging until a second count (MultiState or the Transparency Coalition) corroborates. Initial seed.
- 2026-09-10unmeasured to emergingconf — → 55 · the evaluator (automatic)
NCSL's 2025 legislation tracker holds 1,035 state AI bills, of which 170 carry an enacted or signed status, counted from the published table on 11 Sep 2026. Inside the normal band (500 or more a year: legislatures reacting at their own pace). One tracker, scraped, tier 6, so the status is capped at emerging until a second count (MultiState or the Transparency Coalition) corroborates. Initial seed.
source1
Why this confidence
Rests on 2 observations from NCSL artificial intelligence legislation tracker; best evidence tier 6, grade B; current.
Confidence is independent of status: 90–95 multiple strong independent sources; 70–89 good evidence, some ambiguity; 50–69 mixed or hard to operationalise; 0–49 limited or vague evidence.
Predictions that lean on this
- Too early to tell