Compliance Stuff

Continuing the trend of new state-by-state artificial intelligence (“AI”) regulations, Oregon and Washington both enacted laws regulating AI companion chatbots in March 2026, following California’s lead . Oregon’s SB 1546 and Washington’s HB 2225 will both take effect on January 1, 2027. This Legal Update provides an overview of these new laws and summarizes the key differences from California’s companion chatbot law. I. WASHINGTON HB 2225 Similar to California’s companion chatbot law, Washington’s HB 2225 defines “AI companion chatbot” as an “artificial intelligence system with a natural language interface that provides adaptive, human-like responses to user inputs, including by exhibiting anthropomorphic features, and is able to sustain a relationship across multiple interactions.” HB 2225 broadly excludes: chatbots for business functions (such as technical assistance and customer service) “if such bot does not sustain a relationship across multiple interactions and generate outpu...

Federal procurement is in a period of deliberate disruption. For many years, the government has translated policy objectives into new regulations and compliance requirements imposed on government contractors. Now, for the first time in decades, the government is signaling a sustained shift toward faster buying, reduced regulatory burdens, and greater reliance on commercial practices . For industry, the opportunity is real, as are the risks. The contractors that thrive in 2026 and beyond will be those that can adapt quickly, operate comfortably in more varied acquisition environments, and help their government customers execute amid uncertainty. This moment is not defined by a single acquisition reform. It is a convergence of several key initiatives: a sweeping rewrite of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), major defense acquisition transformation efforts, and procurement consolidation and channel modernization. These initiatives are collectively designed to push the federal acq...