Companion chatbot laws · what to count and keep · updated 9 October 2026

Oregon SB 1546: AI companions

Oregon's SB 1546 (Chapter 85, 2026) applies from 1 January 2027; it names no date, so the state's default for a new act applies. An operator needs a notice where users would think the companion is a person, an evidence-based protocol that refers a user expressing suicidal or self-harm ideation to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline with a link, a break reminder at least every three hours for users it knows or believes are minors, and, by 31 December each year, to “post on a publicly accessible website a report” (Oregon SB 1546, § 1(5)(a)) (read 9 October 2026) giving the number of referrals in the calendar year before and the protocol's details. The record that implies: each referral counted by day or month, and each protocol version with its date.

Each duty, in the statute's words

SB 1546 (SB 1546-B), Chapter 85, Oregon Laws 2026; applies from 1 January 2027: the act names no date, so ORS 171.022's default applies (1 January of the year after passage).

a clear and conspicuous notice that the user is interacting with artificially generated output, where a reasonable person would believe they are talking to a person

“a clear and conspicuous notice that indicates that a user is interacting with artificially generated output”
Oregon SB 1546, § 1(2)

Applies from 1 January 2027. To keep: the notice's text and where it shows, each release that changed it.

a protocol using evidence-based methods to detect suicidal or self-harm ideation or intent, and to prevent content that encourages it

“a protocol for using evidence-based methods for detecting input from the user”
Oregon SB 1546, § 1(3)(a)

Applies from 1 January 2027. To keep: the protocol document, each version with the date it took effect.

a referral to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline with its contact information and a hyperlink (or to a youthline, for a user identified as under 25)

“a referral to and contact information and hyperlink for the national 9-8-8 suicide and crisis lifeline”
Oregon SB 1546, § 1(3)(b)(A)

Applies from 1 January 2027. To keep: the referral message's text, with the 988 number and link, and a count of each time it was shown.

the protocol's details published on the operator's website

“An operator shall publish on the operator's website the details of the operator's protocol.”
Oregon SB 1546, § 1(3)(c)

Applies from 1 January 2027. To keep: the address of the published details and the dates each version was up.

for users the operator knows or has reason to believe are minors: disclose that the output is AI, and at least every three hours of interaction remind them to take a break, and again that it is AI (users known to be minors)

“a clear and conspicuous reminder at a minimum of every three hours of interaction”
Oregon SB 1546, § 1(4)(b)(B)

Applies from 1 January 2027. To keep: the reminder interval for minors, and the sessions that ran past it without one.

The yearly public report

“Not later than December 31 of each year, an operator shall post on a publicly accessible website a report that discloses:”
Oregon SB 1546 (2026), § 1(5)(a)

the number of times in the preceding calendar year the operator provided a referral under its protocol: “The number of times during the calendar year preceding the report in which the operator provided a referral under subsection (3) of this section” (Oregon SB 1546 (2026), § 1(5)(a)(A))
the details of the operator's protocol: “The details of the operator's protocol under subsection (3) of this section.” (Oregon SB 1546 (2026), § 1(5)(a)(B))

When: by 31 December each year; the act applies from 1 January 2027, so the first is due by 31 December 2027. It counts the preceding calendar year.

“An operator may not include in the report described in paragraph (a) of this subsection any personal information that identifies an individual.”
Oregon SB 1546 (2026), § 1(5)(b)

The first report

The act applies from 1 January 2027 and asks for the report by 31 December of each year, counting the calendar year before. Read literally, the first is due by 31 December 2027 and names 2026, before the act applied. Whether to give 2026's count or to say the act did not apply then is a question for counsel.

Enforcement

An individual who suffers an ascertainable loss or other injury in fact may sue for the greater of actual damages or $1,000 per violation, an injunction, and attorney fees (§ 2).

A hosted record of your crisis-referral counts and notice cadence, with the Oregon and Washington public pages kept current for you, is not built

It would take your daily totals (never a conversation or anything about a user), keep them in a hash-chained log with each protocol version, and keep California's yearly draft and the Oregon and Washington pages current.

What exists today: these pages, and the counts and documents you keep yourself. okgate's hash-chained log records the tool calls AI agents make, not your app's events, so it cannot keep this record today.

I want that record