Utah officials and experts debate who is liable when AI causes harm

Utah lawmakers, state officials and technology experts met Thursday at a Regulatory Reform Summit on artificial intelligence at Utah Valley University to discuss how to regulate the technology, the Deseret News reported. Rep. Celeste Maloy hosted the event and called AI the "final frontier in regulation." ^[1]

Panelist Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, said Utah is "not anti-technology, but also we're not naive about the potential harms." He pointed to the Office of AI Policy, created in 2024. Utah Department of Commerce Commissioner Margaret Busse said the office develops policy on emerging issues and operates a regulatory sandbox, which lets AI companies request temporary regulatory changes to pilot a product or service. Brandon Amacher, director of UVU's Emerging Tech Policy Lab, called the approach "a very encouraging level of humility." ^[1]

On liability, Bennett Borden, founder and CEO of Clarion AI Partners, said that unlike a physical product, software does not offer the same product-liability avenue. He said most AI regulation targets the deployer of a model rather than its developer, and that liability should be spread more evenly. Deputy Attorney General Stewart Young, who leads the attorney general's criminal unit, said regulation alone may not be enough given the resources of AI companies and proposed strengthening criminal law. "The feds aren't going to do it, I can guarantee you," he said. ^[1]

Panelists also praised Gov. Spencer Cox's Pro-Human Initiative, launched Dec. 2, 2025, which asks whether an AI decision serves humankind and promotes human flourishing. Fiefia's AI Companion Chatbot Safety Act, HB438, which would require disclosure that chatbots are not human and add protections for minors, has not become law, the Deseret News reported. ^[1] The introduced bill text would require suppliers to disclose that AI companion chatbots are artificial intelligence and not human, and would bar suppliers from introducing minors to material harmful to minors. ^[2]