Tennessee bill turns building a chatbot into a Class A felony

schwit1 writes: Tennessee HB1455/SB1493 creates Class A felony criminal liability — the same category as first-degree murder — for anyone who “knowingly trains artificial intelligence” to provide emotional support, act as a companion, simulate a human being, or engage in open-ended conversations that could lead a user to feel they have a relationship with the AI. The Senate Judiciary Committee already approved it 7-0. It takes effect July 1, 2026. This affects every conversational AI product in existence. If you deploy any AI SaaS product, you need to read this right now.