Washington HB 2157 (Regulating high-risk artificial intelligence system development, deployment, and use.)

• Authority: Washington
• Parent authority: State governments
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. state and local documents
• Most recent activity: Proposed
• Most recent activity date: 2026-02-19

Risk subdomain coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the risk subdomain are explicitly described.

• Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation
• Unequal performance across groups
• Loss of human agency and autonomy
• Lack of capability or robustness
• Lack of transparency or interpretability

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Compromise of privacy
• AI system security vulnerabilities
• False or misleading information
• Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation
• Overreliance and unsafe use
• Increased inequality and decline in employment

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has good coverage of approximately 8 subdomains, with strong focus on unfair discrimination (1.1), unequal performance (1.3), lack of robustness (7.3), and lack of transparency (7.4). Moderate coverage of false information (3.1), fraud/manipulation (4.3), overreliance (5.1), loss of agency (5.2), and increased inequality (6.2). The regulation is primarily focused on discrimination/fairness risks and AI system reliability and transparency.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Finance & Insurance
• Health Care & Social Assistance

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Agriculture, Mining, Construction & Manufacturing
• Trade, Transportation & Utilities
• Information
• Real Estate, Rental & Leasing
• Professional & Technical Services
• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Management, Administrative & Support Services
• Educational Services
• Arts, Entertainment & Recreation
• Accommodation, Food & Other Services
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)
• National Security

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This regulation is cross-sectoral, applying to any organization deploying high-risk AI systems for consequential decisions across multiple sectors including finance and insurance, healthcare, education, employment (across sectors), housing/real estate, legal services, and public administration. Specific exemptions are provided for regulated financial institutions, insurers, healthcare entities, and federal government uses.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a state legislative act enacted by the Washington State Legislature that creates binding legal obligations on developers and deployers of high-risk AI systems, with civil enforcement mechanisms including injunctions and attorneys' fees. The act uses mandatory language throughout and has a specific effective date of January 1, 2027.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Washington State Legislature
• Summary: The document is a legislative act proposed and enacted by the Washington State Legislature, as indicated by the standard enacting clause and legislative bill number.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Developer, AI_Deployer
• Summary: The act explicitly targets developers and deployers of high-risk AI systems doing business in Washington. Developers are those who develop or substantially modify high-risk AI systems and earn more than $100,000 in gross annual revenue. Deployers are those who deploy or use high-risk AI systems to make consequential decisions in Washington.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor, Affected_Stakeholder
• Entities: Courts; Office of the Insurance Commissioner
• Summary: Enforcement is primarily through civil actions filed by affected persons in court, with courts having authority to enjoin violations and award attorneys' fees. For insurance sector, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner retains regulatory oversight.

Monitor

• Entity Types: Affected_Stakeholder
• Summary: The act does not designate a specific monitoring body. Instead, monitoring occurs through deployer obligations to conduct impact assessments and maintain records, and through the private right of action that allows consumers to bring civil actions for violations.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design
• Collect and Process Data
• Build and Use Model
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document comprehensively covers all AI lifecycle stages from planning through operational monitoring. It addresses design requirements through risk management policies, data processing through impact assessment requirements, model development through developer obligations, validation through performance evaluation requirements, deployment through disclosure obligations, and ongoing operation through postdeployment monitoring requirements. The regulation applies to high-risk AI systems, general-purpose AI models, and generative AI systems, but does not reference compute thresholds or specifically mention frontier AI, foundation models, or open-weight models.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• AI Models
• AI Systems
• General Purpose AI
• Generative AI

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly defines and regulates AI systems, high-risk AI systems, general-purpose AI models, and generative AI systems. It does not reference compute thresholds, frontier AI, foundation models, or open-weight/open-source models. The focus is on high-risk systems that make consequential decisions affecting consumers, regardless of model type or size.