US states move to block legal rights for AI, including marriage

In short: A small but growing number of people are holding symbolic weddings with chatbots, and some US state lawmakers want to make sure AI can never be treated as a legal spouse.

What's going on

Some people are forming romantic relationships with chatbots, which are computer programs that talk with you in text or voice, like a customer service chat but designed to feel personal. In Las Vegas, wedding officiant Kevin Breen told WIRED he received a request from a woman who wanted to marry her chatbot, which was unusual even for a chapel that does novelty ceremonies.

Many of these “marriages” are not legal and are mostly symbolic, like exchanging vows in an app. Companion apps such as Character.AI, Kindroid, and Replika let users role-play commitment with an AI partner. A separate service, OpenVows, offers a paid “certificate of commitment,” which is more like a keepsake than a government document.

At the same time, lawmakers in several Republican-led states are pushing bills and laws to block “AI personhood,” meaning treating AI as a legal person (similar to how the law treats a company as a legal entity for contracts). Missouri state senator Joe Nicola introduced a bill in 2026 that said AI cannot be a spouse or domestic partner and cannot hold certain rights, but it was voted down in a House committee. Tennessee passed a law in April that explicitly says AI and other machines are not included in the legal definition of personhood, and Idaho, North Dakota, and Utah have passed similar bans.

What to watch

Human-AI marriages are not recognized under US law today, but the political push shows states are trying to set boundaries early. Watch whether more states adopt explicit language like Tennessee’s, and whether lawmakers focus only on marriage or broaden it to other rights like contracts and property ownership.

Source: Wired