Maine AI Laws and Regulation (2026)

Maine regulates AI through targeted laws rather than a single comprehensive framework. Title 10, Section 1500-DD requires businesses to disclose when consumers are interacting with an AI chatbot, while the state expanded its revenge porn statute under Title 17-A, Section 511-A to reach nonconsensual AI-generated intimate images.

Maine has taken a measured but increasingly active approach to artificial intelligence regulation. The state enacted two targeted AI laws in 2025, one requiring chatbot transparency in consumer transactions and another extending deepfake protections under the state's revenge porn statute. Governor Janet Mills's AI Task Force delivered 33 policy recommendations in October 2025, and the 2026 legislative session enacted three more laws addressing election deepfakes, AI-generated child sexual abuse material, and AI in mental health services.

This guide covers Maine's enacted AI laws, the Task Force's findings, the bills taken up in the 2026 session, and how federal AI policy affects the state.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. AI regulation is evolving rapidly. Consult a licensed Maine attorney for advice about your specific situation.

Enacted AI Laws in Maine

Maine's two 2025 AI laws address artificial intelligence in consumer transactions and in nonconsensual intimate images. Unlike states such as Colorado or Illinois that have passed comprehensive AI frameworks, Maine's approach has been targeted, addressing specific consumer protection and criminal law concerns. The 2026 session added three further targeted laws, covered below.

AI Chatbot Transparency Law (Title 10, Section 1500-DD)

Maine's most significant AI legislation is LD 1727, the "Act to Ensure Transparency in Consumer Transactions Involving Artificial Intelligence," signed by Governor Janet Mills on June 12, 2025 as Public Law 2025, chapter 294. It carried no emergency preamble, so it took effect on the general effective date for the 132nd Legislature's First Special Session, which adjourned sine die on June 25, 2025. That date was September 24, 2025.

The law is codified at Title 10, Section 1500-DD of the Maine Revised Statutes and requires any person who uses an AI chatbot in trade or commerce to disclose that fact to consumers.

Key Provisions:

The statute defines an "artificial intelligence chatbot" as a software application, web interface, or computer program that simulates human-like conversation through textual or aural communications. This definition covers traditional chatbots, web widgets, pre-recorded message systems, and soundboard or avatar systems.

Under the law, it is prohibited to use an AI chatbot in a manner that may mislead or deceive a reasonable consumer into believing they are engaging with a human being, unless the consumer is notified in a clear and conspicuous manner.

Enforcement and Penalties:

Section 1500-DD states that a violation of its disclosure requirement is a violation of the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act, which is Title 5, chapter 10 of the Maine Revised Statutes, enforceable by the Maine Attorney General. The ordinary remedies are injunctive relief and consumer restitution.

A $10,000 civil penalty is not automatic. Under Title 5, Section 209, a penalty of up to $10,000 attaches to a violation of the terms of an injunction obtained by the Attorney General, or to each intentional violation of Section 207 that the Attorney General proves was unfair or deceptive. The statute places that burden of proof on the Attorney General, so a first, non-intentional violation is more likely to draw an injunction and restitution than a five-figure fine.

Scope and Exemptions:

The law applies broadly to anyone conducting trade or commerce in Maine who uses AI chatbots to interact with consumers. It does not impose requirements on internal business use of AI tools or AI systems that do not directly interact with consumers.

Deepfake Amendment to Revenge Porn Statute (Title 17-A, Section 511-A)

In 2025, Maine expanded its existing revenge porn statute so that it covers AI-generated deepfake content. The amendment, LD 1944, was signed on June 20, 2025 as Public Law 2025, chapter 400.

Worth knowing how the coverage actually works: the amended text of Title 17-A, Section 511-A never uses the words artificial intelligence, AI, or deepfake. It reaches synthetic material through its existing coverage of an image that has been "created or modified so that it appears to" show the depicted person, combined with a definition of "image" broad enough to include a computer data file and an animation.

Key Provisions:

The law applies when a person, with intent to harass, torment, or threaten, intentionally or knowingly disseminates, displays, or publishes an image that has been created or modified to appear to show a depicted person in a state of nudity or engaged in a sexual act. Creating such an image, without disseminating, displaying, or publishing it, is not by itself an offense under Section 511-A.

Classification and Penalties:

Unauthorized dissemination of certain private images, including AI-generated images, is a Class D crime in Maine. A Class D crime carries a maximum penalty of less than one year of imprisonment and a fine of up to $2,000.

AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material:

The 2025 amendment stopped short of classifying AI-generated or morphed images of children as child sexual abuse material. In September 2025, Maine State Police told The Maine Monitor that investigators had to set aside material touched by AI because state law did not reach it.

Maine closed that gap the following spring. LD 524, "An Act to Protect Children from Technology-facilitated Sexual Abuse," was enacted as an emergency measure and signed on April 16, 2026 as Public Law 2025, chapter 719. It rewrote the definitions in Title 17-A, Section 281 to define child sexual abuse material as any image, including a computer-generated image, that depicts or has been created or modified so that it appears to depict a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and it added a definition of "generative AI or machine learning." Because the Act carried an emergency preamble, it took effect on approval. Federal law, including the TAKE IT DOWN Act, applies alongside it.

Governor Mills's AI Task Force

Executive Order and Establishment

In December 2024, Governor Janet Mills signed an executive order establishing the Maine Artificial Intelligence Task Force. The 21-member body was supported by a 10-member Technical Advisory Committee and included state and local officials, legislators, education representatives, and business and nonprofit leaders.

Governor Mills charged the Task Force with exploring three key areas:

1. How to prepare Maine's economy and workforce for the opportunities and risks from AI advances
2. How to protect Maine residents from potentially harmful uses of AI
3. How to deploy AI at state agencies and public entities to improve service delivery

33 Recommendations (October 2025)

The Task Force released its final report on October 31, 2025, delivering 33 recommendations organized around several themes:

AI Literacy: The Task Force recommended launching a public AI literacy campaign to help all Mainers, including older adults and youth, navigate the emerging technology in their daily lives.

Economic and Workforce Development: The recommendations identified opportunities to increase productivity, create new industries, and support entrepreneurs through AI while acknowledging the potential for job disruption across manufacturing and professional services.

Consumer and Privacy Protections: The report emphasized protecting personal data privacy, strengthening cybersecurity, and addressing deepfake risks including manipulated voices, images, and personas.

Government Use: The Task Force recommended enhancing planning and transparency around AI tools used at state agencies and developing structured approaches to AI-related development projects, including data centers.

The report drew from testimony by nearly 30 AI experts and public input gathered during the Task Force's process. Many of the 2026 legislative session's AI bills directly reflect these recommendations.

AI Legislation in the 2026 Session

The 2026 session of the Maine Legislature took up several significant AI-related bills, ranging from election deepfake disclosures to healthcare AI regulation and child safety protections. The Second Regular Session adjourned sine die on April 29, 2026.

Election Deepfake Disclosure (LD 517, Enacted)

LD 517, "An Act Regarding Synthetic Media in Campaign Advertising," was signed by Governor Mills on March 23, 2026 as Public Law 2025, chapter 593. It amends Title 21-A, Section 1014, the campaign communication disclosure statute, and enacts a new subsection 5-C. Because the Act carried no emergency preamble, it took effect on July 29, 2026, the general effective date for laws passed in the Second Regular Session. The Maine House advanced the bill in March 2026 and the Senate followed, each largely along party lines, before it reached the Governor.

Disclosure Requirement: A public communication that already requires a disclosure under Section 1014 and that contains synthetic media must additionally carry the words "THIS COMMUNICATION CONTAINS AUDIO, VIDEO AND/OR IMAGES THAT HAVE BEEN MANIPULATED OR ALTERED." The statute defines synthetic media as an image, audio recording, or video recording depicting a candidate's appearance, speech, or conduct that either depicts the candidate saying or doing something the candidate did not, in a manner likely to deceive a reasonable person, or has been manipulated or altered so as to give a reasonable person a materially different impression than the unaltered original. The Maine Ethics Commission adopts rules on the manner, size, and placement of the disclosure through routine technical rulemaking.

Penalties: Section 1014, subsection 4 caps the civil penalty for most disclosure violations at 100% of the expenditure in violation, but a violation of the synthetic media subsection may draw a penalty of up to 500% of that expenditure. The 10-day correction window that can excuse other disclosure violations does not apply to a synthetic media violation.

Exemptions: Satire and parody fall outside the definition of synthetic media, as do modifications that only improve audio, video, or image clarity, add captions, or highlight a section, so long as they do not create a materially different impression. Broadcast, cable, and satellite systems and newspapers do not violate the subsection unless they carry a paid public communication with actual knowledge that it contains synthetic media, and a third party's allegation alone does not supply that knowledge.

Healthcare AI Regulation (LD 955 and LD 1301)

LD 955 would have been one of the most significant healthcare AI bills in the country. It would have prohibited health insurance carriers from denying coverage or claims solely based on AI. Before any AI-driven denial of benefits or reduction in payment, the carrier would have needed to conduct a utilization review by a physician licensed in Maine, considering:

• The medical necessity of the services
• The professional judgment of the enrollee's provider
• The impact of any denial on the enrollee's health outcomes

The Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services voted Ought Not to Pass on May 8, 2025 and reported the bill out on May 14, 2025. Final disposition came on May 20, 2025 pursuant to Joint Rule 310, and the bill was not enacted.

LD 1301, the "Act to Prohibit the Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Denial of Health Insurance Claims," would have established additional guidelines for how AI can be used in medical review and utilization review processes by health insurance carriers and their third-party contractors. Like LD 955, it received an "Ought Not to Pass" recommendation from committee, voted January 20, 2026, with final disposition January 27, 2026. It was not enacted.

Children's AI Safety (LD 2162)

LD 2162, introduced in January 2026, would prohibit operators and distributors of AI chatbots and social AI companions from making accessible to minors any chatbots with human-like features. This includes chatbots that convey humanity, simulate emotions, or attempt to build emotional relationships with users.

The bill received a divided committee report on March 12, 2026, and after further work sessions produced three competing "Ought To Pass As Amended" recommendations on April 8, 2026. The legislature did not act on it before the session ended, and LD 2162 died on adjournment on April 29, 2026.

Mental Health AI Regulation (LD 2082, Enacted)

LD 2082, An Act to Regulate the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Providing Certain Mental Health Services, was enacted and signed by Governor Mills on April 13, 2026 (Public Law 2025, chapter 687). It regulates how AI technology may be used in providing certain mental health services, reflecting growing concerns about AI-powered therapy and counseling tools.

AI in Employment

Maine does not currently have enacted legislation specifically addressing AI in employment and hiring decisions. The state's existing human rights law prohibits employment discrimination based on protected characteristics, but does not include AI-specific requirements for bias audits, algorithmic transparency, or candidate notification.

The AI Task Force's report acknowledged the potential for AI to disrupt Maine's workforce and recommended developing policies around AI's impact on employment. Some Maine municipalities, such as Camden, have independently developed guidelines that identify hiring as a high-risk AI use case requiring formal policies.

No specific employment AI bill advanced in the 2026 session, though the Task Force recommendations could form the basis for future legislation.

Federal AI Policy Impact on Maine

TAKE IT DOWN Act

The federal TAKE IT DOWN Act (P.L. 119-12) provides an important supplement to Maine's deepfake protections. While Maine's Title 17-A, Section 511-A covers nonconsensual intimate deepfakes at the state level, the federal law extends criminal penalties nationally and requires platforms to remove reported deepfake content within 48 hours. It now runs alongside Maine's own 2026 law on AI-generated child sexual abuse material rather than filling a gap in it.

Federal Preemption Concerns

President Trump's Executive Order 14365 (December 2025) established a DOJ AI Litigation Task Force that could challenge state AI laws. For Maine, this creates uncertainty around whether the state's AI chatbot transparency law and its campaign synthetic media disclosure could face federal preemption challenges. However, Maine's existing laws are narrowly tailored to address consumer protection and criminal conduct, which are traditionally areas of state authority.

Federal AI Standards

Maine's AI Task Force report explicitly referenced the importance of aligning state policies with federal frameworks, including NIST AI standards. The Task Force recommended that Maine monitor federal AI developments and adjust state policies accordingly.

Looking Ahead

Maine's AI regulatory trajectory is shaped by the 33 recommendations of the Governor's Task Force and the 2026 legislative session. The state has positioned itself as a deliberate but proactive regulator, focusing on transparency, consumer protection, and criminal law guardrails rather than attempting comprehensive AI governance.

Key developments include the enactment of LD 517 (election deepfakes) on March 23, 2026, the emergency enactment of LD 524 on AI-generated child sexual abuse material on April 16, 2026, and the failure of both healthcare AI bills, LD 955 and LD 1301, which each drew an Ought Not to Pass report from committee. Whether the legislature revisits AI review in health insurance, and whether it returns to child chatbot safety after LD 2162 died on adjournment in April 2026, remain open questions.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. AI regulation is evolving rapidly, and new legislation may be enacted after this article was last reviewed. Consult a licensed Maine attorney for advice about your specific situation. Last reviewed: September 2026.

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