Ohio

Summary

Ohio has enacted one AI-specific statute as of mid-2026: Ohio Revised Code § 3301.24 (added by the 2025 biennial budget, House Bill 96, effective September 30, 2025), which directs the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce to publish a model AI-use policy and requires every public school district, community school, and STEM school to adopt an AI policy by July 1, 2026. The state has no enacted bot-disclosure, automated decision-making accountability, or crawler/training-data law. Three bills are active in the 136th General Assembly (2025–2026): Senate Bill 163, which passed the Senate in May 2026 and would require visual watermarks on AI-generated content and criminalize AI deepfake identity fraud; House Bill 525, which targets chatbot liability for self-harm promotion; and House Bill 469, which would declare AI systems non-sentient and prohibit legal personhood. In the absence of AI-specific enactments, Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act (Ohio Revised Code Chapter 1345) and federal Federal Trade Commission Act § 5 provide the operative backdrop, prohibiting unfair or deceptive practices that encompass undisclosed AI agents and misleading automated interactions.