Victory in Virginia: The Old Dominion approves two important AI bills

Virginia Delegate Michelle Lopes Maldonado, above, authored two significant AI bills that were approved by the General Assembly yesterday. The bills now move to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk for his signature.

Feb. 20, 2025 — With the General Assembly scheduled to adjourn on Saturday, Virginia lawmakers have approved two significant bills on artificial intelligence safety and transparency. The measures now move to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk for signing.

Yesterday the legislature gave final approval to HB 2094 and HB 2124, Delegate Michelle Lopes Maldonado’s bills designed to protect citizens in the Old Dominion from extreme risks, unfair machine discrimination, and AI-generated defamation.

The Transparency Coalition has supported Del. Maldonado’s AI-related efforts this session, with TCAI’s Jai Jaisimha testifying on behalf of her bills before various committees.

“The approval of these important AI bills during Virginia’s brief and intense legislative session speaks to Delegate Maldonado’s determination to act on behalf of Virginia’s citizens,” commented Jaisimha. “As AI use in making fully-automated life-altering decisions grows, these measures balance the security of individual Virginians with the assurance and clarity that the state’s growing tech sector needs to innovate and thrive.”

Speaking specifically of HB 2094, Jaisimha noted one of the bill’s innovative clauses: “The measure minimizes the need for redundant paperwork and reporting by allowing assessments completed for an equivalent law in another jurisdiction to be used to satisfy Virginia's reporting requirements.” That language will allow AI developers to comply with Virginia law without adding unnecessarily paperwork to the process.

“We look forward to Governor Youngkin signing the bills into law, and will continue to work with Delegate Maldonado to further responsible governance in next year’s session,” said Jaisimha.

HB 2094: High-risk AI developer and deployer act

HB 2094, the High-Risk Artificial Intelligence Developer and Deployer Act, is modeled after the Colorado AI Act. In a recent analysis, Tatiana Rice, director of AI legislation at the Future of Privacy Forum, noted that “Virginia’s framework is notably narrower in scope while maintaining key structural similarities” to the Colorado AI Act. “Unlike Colorado, Virginia does not require developers or deployers to report directly to the Attorney General or make public disclosures. However, businesses must still provide disclosures to consumers subject to high-risk AI decisions.”

Virginia’s HB 2094 requires developers of high-risk AI systems to disclose clear information regarding the system’s intended use, purpose, known limitations, foreseeable risks of algorithmic discrimination, performance evaluation results, and risk mitigation measures. The bill also contains transparency requirements for synthetic content created by high-risk generative AI applications. The measure includes a discretionary right to cure and requires the state attorney general to issue a civil investigative demand (CID) before initiating any enforcement action.

The full final version of HB 2094 is available here.

HB 2124: synthetic digital content act

HB 2124, the Synthetic Digital Content Act, expands the applicability of provisions related to defamation, slander, and libel to include synthetic (AI-created or AI-modified) digital content. The bill makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to use any AI-derived content for the purpose of committing any criminal offense involving fraud.

The bill also authorizes the individual depicted in the synthetic digital content to bring a civil action against the person who violates such prohibition. The bill directs the Attorney General to convene a work group to study and make recommendations on the current enforcement of laws related to the use of synthetic digital content.

The full final version of HB 2124 is available here.

Looking ahead to Virginia’s 2026 session

With the state’s normal legislative session expected to adjourn this coming Sat., Feb. 22, AI policy leaders are already looking ahead to next year’s opportunities.

Two of the four AI-related bills Del. Maldonado introduced this year were sent to JCOTS, the legislature’s Joint Commission on Technology and Science, for further study and refinement. Bills sent to JCOTS typically re-appear during the following year’s legislative session.

The two bills sent to JCOTS were:

HB 2121, the Digital Content Authenticity and Transparency Act. This bill requires AI developers to apply provenance data to digital content that is generated by the AI system or service; also requires developers to make a provenance application tool and a provenance reader available to the public.

HB 2250, the Consumer Opt-Out Artificial Intelligence Training Data Act. This bill allows consumers to opt out of the use of the consumer’s personal data. This includes the use of a consumer’s data for the purpose of training an AI model. The bill also requires developers to provide clearly designated and publicly available mechanisms for submissions of Training Data Verification Requests and Training Data Deletion Requests, and to refrain from using clearly designated ‘Do Not Train’ data to train AI models.