HB 669 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Impersonation of certain licensed professionals by chatbot; definitions, notice, civil liability.

Summary
Professions and occupations; impersonation of certain licensed professionals by chatbot; notice; civil liability. Provides that a proprietor that owns, operates, or deploys a chatbot, defined in the bill, shall not permit such chatbot to provide any substantive response, information, or advice, or take any action that, if taken by a natural person, would (i) constitute the unlawful practice of architecture, engineering, surveying, landscape architecture, geology, dentistry, medicine, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, certain mental health professions, psychology, social work, or veterinary medicine; (ii) violate the provisions of law making it unlawful for any person to practice medicine, osteopathic medicine, chiropractic, or podiatry or as a physician assistant in the Commonwealth without a valid unrevoked license or to practice law without being authorized or licensed; or (iii) violate the provisions of law making it unlawful for a teacher to be employed without a license or provisional license or relating to division superintendents, members of a school board or other school officers, or principals or teachers in a public school. The bill allows a person injured by a proprietor who engages in any such conduct to sue therefor no more than two years after the cause of action accrues and recover compensatory damages and reasonable attorney fees and costs. The bill also requires a proprietor operating or deploying a chatbot to provide a clear, conspicuous, and explicit notice to users that they are interacting with a chatbot but specifies that the provisions of such notice shall not be a defense to liability.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Feb 18, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Communications, Technology and Innovation Substitute Communications Subcommittee Substitute · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill text has been reformatted from a plain text version to a structured legislative document format with line numbers and official headers. The substantive policy content regarding AI impersonation of licensed professionals appears unchanged, though some formatting inconsistencies and line breaks have been introduced in the new version.
TECHNICAL

Document formatting changed from plain text to structured legislative format with line numbers, official headers, and spacing adjustments

Date header changed from '2/09/2026' to '26106823D' and '2/9/26 10:26' with additional official identifiers

Section C text appears truncated in the new version, cutting off mid-sentence after 'artificial' with additional formatting artifacts

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
13
Key actions
5
Committee
8
Feb 18, 2026
Lower · Passed
Left in Committee Appropriations
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Committee
Assigned HAPP sub: General Government and Capital Outlay
lower
Feb 9, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Communications, Technology and Innovation with substitute and referred to Appropriations (20-Y 1-N 1-A)
lower
Feb 9, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends continuing to (Voice Vote)
lower
Jan 26, 2026
Committee
Assigned HST sub: Communications
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Communications, Technology and Innovation
lower
1 primary · 3 co-sponsors

Sponsors