On June 2, 2026, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed Senate Bill 5 into law, designated as Public Act 26-15 and also known as the Connecticut Artificial Intelligence Responsibility and Transparency Act (the “CART Act” or “Act”).¹ The CART Act is among the most comprehensive state AI laws enacted to date, creating distinct obligations for employment-related automated decision tools, consumer chatbots, frontier-model developers, generative-AI provenance, and online platforms used by minors, while also addressing AI applications in healthcare through targeted carveouts and innovation initiatives.

For businesses operating in Connecticut, the Act’s most immediate operational impact is likely to be in employment and workforce decision-making. Employers using AI in hiring or personnel management will face new disclosure obligations and, when issuing mass-layoff notices, must disclose whether AI informed the decision. The law also imposes child-safety and behavioral rules for AI companions, provenance obligations for certain generative-AI providers, reporting and whistleblower protections for frontier-model developers, and parental-consent and warning requirements for platforms recommending content to minors. Notably, the Act explicitly carves out healthcare-related AI systems from its AI companion regulations and separately promotes healthcare AI innovation through a state-sponsored competition and research collaborative.

Effective dates begin October 1, 2026, and so businesses should begin mapping implicated AI systems, assessing compliance obligations, and designating organizational ownership and governance now.

To read the full Ropes & Gray alert, click here.

1. An Act Concerning Online Safety, 2026 Conn. Pub. Acts 26-15 (codification pending) (originally introduced as Substitute S.B. 5, 2026 Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Conn. 2026)). The acronym “CART Act” (also stylized as C.A.R.T. Act) was developed and is used by the Connecticut General Assembly’s Artificial Intelligence Caucus ↩︎