By Veronica Blatt
If you think you’ve done enough to stay ahead of all the new laws regarding salary transparency, job advertising/posting, website accessibility, and more… it’s about to get worse. There are a lot of new laws related to AI that are going to impact both recruiters and their clients. Here are just a few:
- California-SB53, “Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act”, went into effect on January 1. This is the first state law that applies to “frontier” AI systems, which are essentially very large, advanced AI models trained on massive data sets with extremely high compute limits (think OpenAI). While this isn’t specific to recruiters, many in the industry are keeping an eye on it because (a) what starts in California spreads elsewhere, and (b) it could be the de facto model for national policy since no other comprehensive federal law exists.
- colorado—SB 24-205, which will take effect June 30, 2026, requires new compliance obligations for entities doing business in Colorado (regardless of their location) and using “high risk” AI tools in employment decisions. “High risk” tools include any AI system that makes or influences significant hiring decisions. Compliance requirements include bias audits, maintaining documentation, confirming that vendors meet legal and ethical standards, and ensuring that final employment decisions are not completely automated.
- Illinois-HB 3773 amended the Illinois Human Rights Act to explicitly prohibit employers from using AI tools that have the effect of subjecting candidates to illegal discrimination. The law also requires employers to inform employees and applicants when and how AI is being used in the employment process.
- new Jersey-The state of New Jersey adopted rules governing disparate impact discrimination in the workplace in 2025, including the use of automated devices. These tools should be evaluated to ensure that they do not have a disparate impact, bearing in mind that automated tools may replicate and worsen existing workforce imbalances. An example might include a resume-scoring tool that reflects the demographics of a non-diverse workforce.
- texas-The new law (HB 149) has limited impact on covered private employers, focusing more on the use of AI tools within government.
- EU AI Act-The Act classifies AI systems based on risk, with stricter requirements for “high risk” environments.
- EU GDPR Article 22– Makes employment decisions based solely on automated processing.
- eu data act Works in conjunction with the EU AI Act and GDPR Article 22 to give users broad rights to access and share data across connected devices.
This is by no means a comprehensive list and does not serve as legal advice. As always, check with your attorney to make sure you’re in compliance. The flip side of the new laws are the lawsuits that arise – e.g. weekday matter, or about otter.
Read more about AI-related legislation:
