Nebraska LB525 — Conversational AI Safety Act + Agricultural Data Privacy Act

Nebraska Legislative Bill 525 (LB525) is a state law approved by the Governor on April 14, 2026 that bundles two separate titles. The Conversational Artificial Intelligence Safety Act (Sections 12–18) regulates AI chatbots accessible to the general public through disclosure requirements, a suicide-referral protocol, a prohibition on impersonating mental-health professionals, and minor-specific protections, with enforcement reserved to the Nebraska Attorney General and no private right of action. The Agricultural Data Privacy Act (Sections 1–10) is a sectoral data-privacy title covering agricultural data tied to identifiable Nebraska producers. The AI title takes effect July 1, 2027.

Status and timeline

LB525 was introduced by Senator Mike Jacobson (District 42) at the request of the Governor, and was approved by the Governor on April 14, 2026. The bill also amends Nebraska Reissue Revised Statutes §84-712.05. It carries two codified titles: the Conversational Artificial Intelligence Safety Act at Sections 12–18, and the Agricultural Data Privacy Act at Sections 1–10. The AI title becomes effective July 1, 2027; the Agricultural Data title follows the bill's general effective dates.

Conversational AI Safety Act (Sec. 12–18)

Scope and definitions (Sec. 13)

A conversational AI service is defined as an AI software application, web interface, or program accessible to the general public that primarily simulates human conversation, whether textual, visual, or aural. The definition excludes developer and researcher tools, embedded features within non-AI products, narrow-discrete-topic systems, commercial-business-use products, voice-assistant speakers, internal-business-only systems, and customer-service-only chatbots.

A minor is a person under 18 where the operator has actual knowledge or reasonable certainty of that fact.

Minor-specific requirements (Sec. 14)

For minors, an operator must satisfy several requirements. On disclosure cadence, the service must carry either a persistent visible disclaimer or a disclaimer at the beginning of each session and every 3 hours during continuous interaction. The act prohibits variable rewards delivered at unpredictable intervals to encourage engagement. It requires preventing sexual content directed at minors, specifically visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct ("sexually explicit conduct" and "visual depiction" taking the meanings given in 18 U.S.C. §2256), direct statements urging engagement, and statements that sexually objectify the minor. It imposes anti-anthropomorphism prohibitions, preventing claims of sentience or human nature, simulated emotional dependence, romantic or sexual innuendo, and adult-minor romantic role-play. Finally, it requires account and privacy tools for minors and, for users under 13, for parents and guardians.

General disclosure (Sec. 15)

The operator must clearly and conspicuously disclose the AI nature of the service when a reasonable person would otherwise be misled.

Suicide protocol (Sec. 16)

The operator must adopt a protocol under which the AI service refers users expressing suicidal ideation or self-harm to crisis service providers, such as a suicide hotline, a crisis text line, or other appropriate crisis services.

Mental-health-professional impersonation prohibited (Sec. 17)

The operator may not knowingly cause the conversational AI service to make any representation explicitly indicating that it is designed to provide professional mental or behavioral health care.

Enforcement (Sec. 18)

The Nebraska Attorney General holds sole enforcement authority. Available relief includes equitable and declaratory relief, actual damages, civil penalties of at least $1,000 per violation capped at $500,000 per operator, and reasonable expenses covering court costs, attorney's fees, investigation, witness fees, and depositions. The act provides no private right of action. A developer carve-out specifies that the act does not create liability for the developer of an AI model for any violation by a conversational AI system developed by a third-party operator for such developer.

Agricultural Data Privacy Act (Sec. 1–10)

The companion title is described in the source as the first U.S. state law specifically protecting agricultural data inputs to AI training and analysis. The act defines "agricultural data" to include agronomic, climate and weather, land, livestock, management, and sustainability data linked to identifiable Nebraska producers. It carves out aggregated and derived data, as well as data made publicly available by an agency. It restricts the sale of agricultural data absent producer consent, with exemptions for disclosures to processors, affiliates, governmental subpoenas, and producer-directed sharing.

The title bears on AI training-data debates (AI Copyright, Training Data Walls) and on the Agriculture sector's growing AI deployment footprint. It parallels the Data Rights framework developed for personal data, applied instead to a sectoral commercial-data class.

Comparative position (AI title)

Relationships

• related: Idaho SB 1297 — Conversational AI Safety Act, Oregon SB 1546 — Artificial Intelligence Companions, Washington ESHB 2225 — AI Companion Chatbots, California SB 243 — Companion Chatbots, Tennessee SB 1580 / HB 1470 — AI Mental-Health Professional Impersonation Prohibition — the 2026 wave of state companion-chatbot and mental-health AI laws.
• related: Character.AI Litigation (umbrella) — the Nebraska framework addresses several of the alleged harms.
• supports: Techno-Federalism — Plains-state entry into the multi-state AI regulatory grid.
• related: Ai Data Rights — the Agricultural Data Privacy Act is the first U.S. state sectoral data-rights regime touching AI inputs.

Source

Primary text: Raw Sources/Nebraska Conversational AI Safety Act (LB525).md (source_class: foundational).