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AI therapy chatbots are the target of accelerating state-level legislative bans, with Maine sending a prohibition bill to the governor on April 10 and Missouri moving a similar measure through an omnibus health care bill.
Two US states moved this week to formally restrict or ban the clinical use of AI in mental health therapy, reflecting a surge in legislative activity targeting therapy chatbots that has picked up significant speed in 2026. The actions in Maine and Missouri are the clearest examples yet of how states are moving faster than the federal government on AI mental health regulation.
Maine’s LD 2082 was sent to the governor on April 10. The bill would prohibit the clinical use of AI in mental health therapy while allowing it in purely administrative roles. Missouri’s HB 2372 goes further, covering therapy services, psychotherapy services, and mental health diagnoses, with a $10,000 penalty for first violations enforced by the state Attorney General, according to the Transparency Coalition.
The distinction both bills draw, between clinical treatment and administrative support, reflects a legislative approach that aims to preserve AI’s efficiency benefits in healthcare while drawing a firm line against AI replacing licensed clinical judgment in therapeutic settings.
The surge in state-level AI regulation is driven in part by the rapid proliferation of commercial therapy chatbot products marketed directly to consumers, some of which have been deployed in clinical or clinical-adjacent settings without the same oversight applied to human practitioners. Critics say these products have been reaching vulnerable people while regulatory frameworks remained largely silent.
As crypto.news reported, AI is now being embedded across government agencies in sensitive analytical roles, creating pressure on policymakers at every level to define where AI can and cannot substitute for human judgment. The therapy chatbot bans are a direct legislative answer to that pressure in a healthcare context.
The therapy chatbot bans are part of a wider legislative wave. More than 10 anti-prediction market bills have been introduced in Congress since January 2026, and state legislatures across the country have filed dozens of AI-focused measures targeting different sectors.
As crypto.news noted, the federal government is simultaneously accelerating AI adoption and fighting legal battles over where AI authority begins and ends. States appear to be filling the vacuum, passing binding restrictions on specific high-risk applications while Washington debates broader frameworks.
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