Connecticut Public Act 26-15 / SB 5 (Online Safety and AI Provisions)
Compliance reference — obligations, penalties, applicability, and primary sources.
Last verified July 27, 2026
Summary
Connecticut's comprehensive AI law is Substitute Senate Bill 5 (2026), An Act Concerning Online Safety, enacted as Public Act 26-15 and signed by Governor Ned Lamont on June 2, 2026 (Connecticut General Assembly bill history, retrieved 2026-06-22). The Connecticut General Assembly's Artificial Intelligence Caucus refers to it as the Connecticut Artificial Intelligence Responsibility and Transparency Act, or CART Act. It supersedes the state's 2025 effort, Substitute SB 2, which passed the Senate on May 14, 2025 but did not clear the House.
Public Act 26-15 is broader than the 2025 SB 2 entry this page originally tracked. The Act covers frontier-developer whistleblower protections, AI regulatory sandbox changes, AI companions and chatbot safety, automated employment-related decision technology (AEDT) interactive disclosures and pre-decision notice duties, AI-related layoff notices, social media platforms and minors, Connecticut AI Academy and workforce programs, state agency AI use, synthetic content provenance/watermarking, and related AI governance structures. Related Atlas coverage: Utah AI Policy Act.
A later 2026 Connecticut act, Public Act 26-100, changes the subscription-disclosure piece. Section 67 of Public Act 26-100 repeals Sections 1 and 33 of Public Act 26-15 effective from passage. Section 46 of Public Act 26-100 creates a narrower generative-AI subscription-disclosure rule effective October 1, 2026 for subscription-based providers that create, code, or otherwise produce a generative AI system with more than 1,000,000 users per month and public accessibility to consumers for personal use. Violations of that Section 46 disclosure duty are treated as Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act violations enforced solely by the Attorney General, with no private right of action.
The Connecticut package uses a tiered effective-date schedule rather than one effective date. Per the Public Act 26-15 text and the Public Act 26-100 revision (retrieved 2026-05-28):
- October 1, 2026 — generative-AI subscription disclosures under Public Act 26-100 Section 46; AI-related layoff notices; and several governance / workforce provisions.
- January 1, 2027 — AI companion operator obligations, including chatbot safety provisions for minors, and large frontier-developer anonymous whistleblower reporting channels.
- July 1, 2027 — AI regulatory sandbox program plan deadline under Public Act 26-15 Section 3.
- October 1, 2027 — AEDT interactive disclosures and pre-decision written notice obligations apply to deployments of automated employment-related decision technology. The Attorney General may issue a 60-day cure notice for AEDT violations occurring through December 31, 2027.
- January 1, 2028 — social media platform protections for minors, including notification limits, parental controls, warning labels, and restrictions on addictive algorithmic feeds.
Compliance teams operating in Connecticut should treat the page as an enacted-but-phased law tracker. The most actionable near-term private-sector AI provisions are the October 1, 2026 generative-AI subscription disclosures and AI-related layoff notices. AEDT interactive disclosures and pre-decision notice duties do not apply until October 1, 2027 and so are not a 2026 compliance program task. Public Act 26-15 and Public Act 26-100 use a mixed enforcement model: several AI-related provisions are treated as Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act violations enforced solely by the Attorney General with no private right of action, while frontier-developer whistleblower violations carry a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation plus injunctive and equitable remedies.
Frequently asked questions
Is Connecticut SB 2 the same as SB 5 / Public Act 26-15?
No. Substitute SB 2 was Connecticut's 2025 AI bill, which passed the Senate on May 14, 2025 but did not become law. The enacted Connecticut AI law is Substitute SB 5 (2026), signed as Public Act 26-15 on June 2, 2026. SB 5 is the operative statute; SB 2 is its unenacted predecessor (CGA bill histories, retrieved 2026-06-22).
What is the Connecticut Artificial Intelligence Responsibility and Transparency (CART) Act?
The CART Act is the name the Connecticut General Assembly's Artificial Intelligence Caucus uses for Public Act 26-15 (Substitute SB 5, An Act Concerning Online Safety). Signed June 2, 2026, it regulates frontier AI developers, automated employment-related decision technology (AEDT), AI companions, generative-AI content provenance, subscription disclosures, and youth online safety (retrieved 2026-06-22).
When do Connecticut's AI law requirements take effect?
Public Act 26-15 phases in obligations rather than using a single effective date: October 1, 2026 (generative-AI subscription disclosures under Public Act 26-100 Section 46, AI-related layoff notices, and several governance provisions); January 1, 2027 (AI companion duties and large frontier-developer whistleblower channels); July 1, 2027 (AI regulatory sandbox plan); October 1, 2027 (AEDT interactive disclosures and pre-decision notice); and January 1, 2028 (youth social-media protections).
Who must comply with Connecticut's AI law?
The Act reaches AI developers and deployers operating in Connecticut, with specific duties for frontier-model developers, employers using automated employment-related decision technology, operators of AI companions, subscription-based generative-AI providers with more than 1,000,000 monthly users, and social-media platforms serving minors.
What are the penalties under the Connecticut CART Act?
Public Acts 26-15 and 26-100 use a mixed enforcement model. Several AI provisions, including the generative-AI subscription-disclosure duty, are treated as Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) violations enforced solely by the Attorney General with no private right of action; frontier-developer whistleblower violations carry a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation plus injunctive and equitable remedies. The Attorney General may issue a 60-day cure notice for AEDT violations occurring through December 31, 2027.
Key obligations
Specific compliance requirements derived from the primary source. Each item links to the relevant statutory section where applicable.
- TransparencyRole: developerPublic Act 26-100 § 46 (revising Public Act 26-15 / Sub. SB 5)
On and after October 1, 2026, a subscription-based provider that creates, codes, or otherwise produces a generative AI system with more than 1,000,000 monthly users and public accessibility to consumers for personal use must provide the generative-AI subscription disclosure required by Public Act 26-100 Section 46 (which replaced the original Public Act 26-15 subscription provisions). The duty is enforced solely by the Attorney General as a Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) violation, with no private right of action.
Deadlinefrom_2026-10-01
- DisclosureRole: deployerPublic Act 26-15 (Sub. SB 5, An Act Concerning Online Safety)
On and after October 1, 2026, an employer that conducts a layoff substantially caused or contributed to by an artificial intelligence system must provide the AI-related layoff notice required by Public Act 26-15. This is one of the earliest-effective private-sector duties in the Connecticut package and applies alongside the state's existing separation and mass-layoff notice obligations.
Deadlinefrom_2026-10-01
- GovernanceRole: developerPublic Act 26-15 (Sub. SB 5) — frontier-developer provisions
On and after January 1, 2027, a large frontier-model developer must establish an anonymous whistleblower reporting channel through which employees and contractors can report critical AI risks. Violations of the frontier-developer whistleblower provisions carry a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation plus injunctive and equitable remedies, distinct from the CUTPA/Attorney-General model that governs most other provisions of the Act.
Deadlinefrom_2027-01-01
- Consumer rightRole: bothPublic Act 26-15 (Sub. SB 5) — AI companion provisions
On and after January 1, 2027, an operator of an AI companion (a system designed to simulate sustained human-like relationships with a user) must implement the Act's chatbot safety provisions, including protections for minors. These operator duties sit within the Act's broader youth online-safety framework and are enforced by the Attorney General as CUTPA violations.
Deadlinefrom_2027-01-01
- DisclosureRole: deployerPublic Act 26-15 (Sub. SB 5) — AEDT provisions
For deployments of automated employment-related decision technology (AEDT) on or after October 1, 2027, a deployer must provide the Act's interactive disclosures and pre-decision written notice to affected individuals. The Attorney General may issue a 60-day cure notice for AEDT violations occurring through December 31, 2027, so the earliest AEDT-specific compliance work is a 2027 program task rather than a 2026 one.
Deadlinefrom_2027-10-01
Build a compliance program around these obligations
A single law is one input to a broader program. These guides show how to assign accountability, map every obligation to a control, and split developer-versus-deployer duties across the systems a team operates.
- AI governance: building an AI compliance program
The operating model — owners, committee, decision rights, lifecycle gates — that turns a law into an accountable, auditable program anchored to the NIST AI RMF GOVERN function.
- AI compliance framework: the regulatory control map
How to map each AI system to the laws it triggers, the controls that satisfy them, and the evidence that proves the controls operate.
- Deployer vs developer obligations
Which duties attach to building an AI system versus putting one into use — the split most state AI laws turn on.
Sources
Every fact above is sourced from the official primary source. Independent verification recommended before acting on the information.
- Officialwww.cga.ct.gov — Public Act 26-15, 2026 Gen. Assemb. (Substitute S.B. 5, "An Act Concerning Online Safety"), as affected by Public Act 26-100
- www.cga.ct.gov
- www.cga.ct.gov
- www.cga.ct.gov
- www.cga.ct.gov
- www.cga.ct.gov
- www.cga.ct.gov
- portal.ct.gov
Last reviewed July 27, 2026. Reviewed by the AI Compliance Atlas editorial process against primary sources. Source selection, retrieval dates, and update rules are documented in the Atlas methodology.
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