North Carolina AI Laws: Enacted and What's Next (2027)

As of November 2026, North Carolina has no comprehensive AI law that we could find. Its main AI-specific law is Session Law 2024-37 (HB 591), which wrote AI-made images into G.S. 14-190.5A and other sex crime statutes. Governor Stein's Executive Order No. 24 sets AI policy for state agencies, and many AI bills were filed in 2025 and 2026 without becoming law in the records we read.

How we checked: We read G.S. 14-190.5A on the General Assembly's site on November 5, 2026, and it matched what this page says. Other statute quotes come from our stored copy of the General Statutes, captured July 29, 2026, which is a copy, not a check of current law. Bill histories and bill summaries come from the Legislative Reporting Service of the UNC School of Government, read November 4, 2026, and are reported as that service shows them. The exception is SB 316, which we read on the General Assembly's site on November 5, 2026. We did not review the General Assembly's other bill records or session laws for this page.

This page covers North Carolina law as of November 4, 2026. It is general legal information, not legal advice. For the national picture, see our guide to US AI laws.

North Carolina's AI Image Law: S.L. 2024-37 (HB 591)

The UNC service shows HB 591 signed July 8, 2024 as S.L. 2024-37. It reports that the act applies to offenses committed on or after December 1, 2024. The statutes below carry 2024-37 in their history notes in our stored copy.

• Disclosure of private images, G.S. 14-190.5A. An "image" includes "a realistic visual depiction created, adapted, or modified by technological means, including algorithms or artificial intelligence, such that a reasonable person would believe the image depicts an identifiable individual." The crime requires all of the following: a knowing disclosure with intent to coerce, harass, intimidate, demean, humiliate or cause financial loss, or to cause others to do so; a depicted person identifiable from the image or information offered with it; intimate parts or sexual conduct that are or are realistically depicted; no affirmative consent to the disclosure; and an image obtained, created, adapted or modified without consent, or in circumstances where the person knew or should have known it was expected to stay private.
• Penalty and exceptions. It is a Class H felony for a person 18 or older. For a person under 18, a first offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor and a later offense a Class H felony. The section exempts voluntary exposure in public or commercial settings, disclosures in the public interest, and interactive computer service providers for images provided by another person.
• Minors, G.S. 14-190.17C. Knowingly producing, distributing, receiving or possessing with intent to distribute material that depicts a minor engaging in sexual activity and is obscene is a Class E felony. Knowingly possessing such material is a Class H felony. "It is not a required element of any offense under this section that the minor depicted actually exist." Under G.S. 14-190.13, "material" includes computer-generated depictions made by "algorithms or artificial intelligence", and "obscene" has its own four-part definition.
• Sexual extortion, G.S. 14-202.7. This section uses the same AI "image" definition. It covers intentionally threatening to disclose a private image, or to decline to delete, remove or retract one, to compel a victim or family member to act or refrain from acting, with intent to obtain more private images, anything else of value, or an acquittance, advantage or immunity. It is a Class F felony for an adult. For a minor, a first offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor and a later one a Class F felony. The aggravated offense, an adult targeting a minor or an individual with a disability, is a Class E felony.

Our guide to North Carolina deepfake laws has the detail.

Executive Order No. 24: AI in State Government

Executive Order No. 24, "Advancing Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence That Benefits All North Carolinians," was signed September 2, 2025. It "remains in effect until December 31, 2028, or until rescinded."

• It creates an AI council of "twenty-five (25) members (or more, per the Governor's discretion)", co-chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Information Technology and the Secretary of the Department of Commerce or designee.
• It places an AI Accelerator in the Department of Information Technology as a "centralized hub for AI governance, research, partnership, development, implementation, and training."
• It asks each Cabinet agency for "at least three AI use case proposals within 180 days of this Executive Order."

It is a policy order for state government, not a statute.

Insurers and AI: Department of Insurance Bulletin 24-B-19

The Department of Insurance issued Bulletin 24-B-19 on December 18, 2024. It reminds insurers holding certificates of authority that decisions or actions affecting consumers, when made or supported by advanced analytical and computational technologies including AI systems, must comply with all applicable insurance laws and regulations, including those on unfair trade practices and unfair discrimination.

The bulletin sets out the Department's expectations for how insurers govern these tools and what it may request in an investigation or examination. It is a regulator's statement of expectations under existing law, not a new law. The NAIC's status list, dated November 3, 2026, shows it as North Carolina's adoption of the NAIC model bulletin.

The Attorney General and AI: LivCor and Letters to Congress

On June 18, 2026, Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced a $7 million settlement with landlord LivCor. The release says "LivCor will stop using non-public data from other landlords, either through RealPage's software or by other means, to set rents." It relies on antitrust law and names no AI statute. We read the release, not the settlement.

In a September 2026 release, the Attorney General said he and 25 other attorneys general urged Congress to set federal AI regulations and safety protocols.

Attorneys general in Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia announced separate suits against OpenAI on October 14, 2026. Official releases from several of those states also name Kansas. North Carolina is not in that list. We did not review every release on the Attorney General's site.

What We Did Not Find in North Carolina Law

We found no enacted North Carolina statute specifically on AI in hiring, companion chatbots, frontier models, AI in insurance review, or AI labels on election ads. That rests on three limited searches:

• Stored statutes. A search of our July 29, 2026 copy for "artificial intelligence" returned only G.S. 14-190.5A, 14-190.13 and 14-202.7. "Chatbot" and "deepfake" returned nothing. Hits for "algorithm", "automated", "machine learning" and "synthetic media" looked unrelated by section title, and each search shows at most 25 sections. A law passed after that date would not appear.
• 2026 session laws. The UNC service's session law list, through S.L. 2026-62, shows no title naming AI. A title scan cannot find a provision inside a broader act.
• 2025 session laws. The UNC service's 2025 list, S.L. 2025-1 through 2025-97, shows no title naming AI. A title scan cannot find a provision inside a broader act.

AI Note-Takers and Recording in North Carolina

AI meeting assistants raise recording consent questions. Our guide to North Carolina AI meeting recording laws covers them.

Federal Law and North Carolina's AI Rules

As of November 4, 2026, we found no federal statute in the public laws of the 119th Congress that sets general rules for private AI systems or generally preempts state AI laws. In December 2025, Executive Order 14365 directed federal agencies to challenge or discourage state AI laws the administration views as conflicting with national policy, and called for a federal framework from Congress. The order itself does not declare any state law invalid. See our pages on the AI executive orders and state AI law preemption.

What Changes in North Carolina AI Law in 2027

As of November 4, 2026, we found no AI law scheduled to take effect in North Carolina in 2027; we searched our stored copy of the General Statutes captured July 29, 2026, the UNC service's lists of 2025 and 2026 session laws by title, and web sources for those sessions.

The bills below are not law in the records we read. Except for SB 316, the last action shown is what the UNC service displayed on November 4, 2026, and descriptions come from its summaries of the edition named. A bill can change. We did not confirm whether the General Assembly can still act on them in 2026. A bill not enacted in the 2025-26 biennium does not carry into 2027 and would have to be filed again.

For SB 316, we read Edition 3 and Edition 4 on the General Assembly's site. In both, that one sentence in SECTION 8.(a) is the only mention of AI or an algorithm. The site does not label which edition the Senate passed. The Senate adopted Amendment 1 and passed the bill on March 27, 2025, and the bill was engrossed that day, so we infer that the Senate passed Edition 4. SB 316 is still a bill, not a law.

More North Carolina Laws

Explore other North Carolina law topics on Recording Law:

• North Carolina Recording Laws
• North Carolina Data Privacy Laws
• North Carolina Surveillance Camera Laws
• North Carolina Background Check Laws
• North Carolina Sexting Laws
• North Carolina Biometric Privacy Laws
• North Carolina Whistleblower Laws
• North Carolina Deepfake Laws
• North Carolina AI Meeting Recording Laws

Frequently Asked Questions

Does North Carolina have an AI law?

North Carolina has AI-specific criminal law on images in S.L. 2024-37 (HB 591), and Executive Order No. 24 sets AI policy for state agencies. As of November 2026, we found no comprehensive North Carolina AI law in a stored copy of the statutes and the UNC School of Government's bill records.

Are AI deepfakes illegal in North Carolina?

Not all of them. G.S. 14-190.5A covers realistic AI images only where a person knowingly discloses an image showing intimate parts or sexual conduct of an identifiable person, with intent to coerce, harass, intimidate, demean, humiliate or cause financial loss, or to cause others to do so, without affirmative consent, and the image was obtained, created, adapted or modified without consent or in circumstances where the person knew or should have known it was expected to stay private. It is a Class H felony for an adult. Listed exceptions apply.

Is AI-generated child sexual abuse material illegal in North Carolina?

G.S. 14-190.17C makes it a felony to knowingly produce, distribute, receive, possess with intent to distribute, or possess material that depicts a minor engaging in sexual activity and is obscene. Material includes computer-generated depictions made with algorithms or AI, and the minor depicted need not actually exist.

Does North Carolina regulate AI in health insurance?

We found no enacted statute on it. HB 565, SB 287 and SB 316 are bills, not laws, in the records we read on November 4 and 5, 2026. Department of Insurance Bulletin 24-B-19 tells insurers that AI-supported decisions must comply with existing insurance law, but a bulletin is not a new law.

Does North Carolina regulate AI in hiring?

We found no enacted North Carolina statute specifically on AI in hiring. HB 1161 as filed would create a Fair AI Hiring Act, but the UNC service showed it in a House committee as of November 4, 2026.

What is North Carolina Executive Order 24?

Governor Stein signed Executive Order No. 24 on September 2, 2025. It creates an AI council and an AI Accelerator in the Department of Information Technology, and asks each Cabinet agency for at least three AI use case proposals within 180 days. It remains in effect until December 31, 2028 or until rescinded.

Will North Carolina pass an AI law in 2027?

We cannot predict that. As of November 4, 2026, we found no AI law scheduled to take effect in 2027. A bill not enacted in the 2025-26 biennium would have to be filed again.