VermontAI regulation

Regulation Status

• Vermont regulates AI through targeted statutes rather than a comprehensive AI act, spanning government oversight, synthetic intimate images, and election deepfakes. It was an early mover on public-sector AI governance with H. 410, An Act Relating to the Use and Oversight of Artificial Intelligence in State Government, which directed the Agency of Digital Services to inventory the automated decision systems developed, employed, or procured across state government and created AI governance functions within the executive branch.
• Vermont has active deepfake and likeness-protection activity. H. 878 expanded the state's non-consensual dissemination of intimate images statute to cover media altered using an image or images of a person, including images other than the person depicted, or computer-generated images, with existing penalties applying.
• Vermont enacted S. 23, An Act Relating to the Use of Synthetic Media in Elections. The law defines synthetic media as any image, audio, or video of an individual's likeness or speech created or intentionally altered using digital technology, including AI, and prohibits knowingly distributing deceptive and fraudulent synthetic media within 90 days of an election without a prescribed disclosure, subject to Attorney General enforcement, civil penalties up to $15,000 per violation, and injunctive or other equitable relief for affected candidates.
• Executive and agency developments: Vermont AI Council: Automated decision systems and data-policy recommendations: The AI Council and Agency of Digital Services propose a framework for automated decision systems, AI use, data management, and workforce development. The recommendations primarily concern the executive branch and are presented as recommendations rather than newly enacted legal duties.