AI Laws in Charleston, West Virginia
AI Laws USA tracks 15 AI rules that apply to people and businesses in Charleston, West Virginia: 10+ federal rules, 5 West Virginia state-level rules (no Charleston-specific ordinances are indexed yet). Coverage is strongest on government use of AI, consumer protection, automated decision-making, and AI-generated images. 5 of these rules are already in effect. Each entry below links to its official source.
Charleston local AI rules (and Kanawha County)
No city- or county-specific AI ordinances are currently indexed for Charleston, West Virginia.
- No local entries yet: we don't currently index any Charleston-specific AI ordinances. Federal and West Virginia state rules still apply throughout the city. Have we missed something? Email feedback@ailawsusa.com.
West Virginia-level AI rules
5 West Virginia state rules apply to residents and businesses in Charleston. Sorted strongest first.
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In effect Strength: limited
West Virginia 20-year data center development plan (2026)
West Virginia · Effective August 11, 2026 · W. Va. Responsible Data Center Development Plan (Aug. 11, 2026) (under H.B. 2014, Power Generation and Consumption Act)
West Virginia announced a 20-year Responsible Data Center Development Plan on August 11, 2026, presented jointly by Governor Patrick Morrisey, Senate President Randy Smith and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw. It uses the authority of House Bill 2014, the Power Generation and Consumption Act, to set state-level oversight and development criteria for hyperscale data centers, built around seven core principles and administered by a Data Economy Office. Developers must demonstrate baseline financial capacity, committed capital and clear power load projections, and developers and utilities are made responsible for electrical infrastructure upgrades and energy capacity needs. The fiscal design is the unusual part: revenue generated through the High Impact Data Center designation does not enter the state general revenue fund, host county budgets cannot be negatively impacted, and 50 percent of project revenue is dedicated to reducing and ultimately eliminating the state personal income tax. West Virginia is starting from zero active hyperscale facilities, so the plan is prospective rather than remedial. It has drawn substantive criticism: Mountain State Spotlight reported in September that despite the plan's promise of a community voice, locals say they remain shut out, and the Charleston Gazette-Mail argued it doubles down on existing industry regulation gaps. Recorded here at limited strength for that reason — it is a planning framework and revenue structure, not a set of enforceable resource limits.
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In effect Strength: limited
WVDE Artificial Intelligence Guidance (v1.2)
West Virginia Department of Education · Effective March 1, 2025 · WVDE Artificial Intelligence Guidance (v1.2)
West Virginia's education department published AI guidance supporting superintendents, district staff, and educators in safely integrating generative AI into instruction, administration, and district operations aligned with state board policies.
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In effect Strength: limited
WV DOI AI Bulletin
WV · Effective August 9, 2024 · West Virginia OIC Insurance Bulletin 24-06 (2024-08-09)
The WV Department of Insurance adopted the NAIC Model Bulletin on Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems by Insurers. Insurers licensed in WV must maintain a written AI program with governance, risk-management, testing, third-party-AI oversight, and documentation controls. The bulletin operationalizes existing unfair-trade-practice and unfair-discrimination law as applied to insurers' AI use cases — underwriting, pricing, claims, fraud detection, and marketing.
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In effect Strength: limited
West Virginia SB 198 (criminalizes AI/computer-generated child pornography)
West Virginia · Effective July 9, 2025 · S.B. 198, 2025 Reg. Sess. (W. Va.); W. Va. Code 61-8C-12
West Virginia made it a crime to create, produce, distribute, or possess with intent to distribute computer-generated or AI-generated child pornography, even when no real child was used. The law specifies that it is not a defense that an actual minor does not exist, and treats a depiction that appears to be a person under 18 as covered. Violations carry one to ten years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $20,000.
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In effect Strength: limited
WV Fabricated Intimate Images Law
West Virginia · WV Code § 61-8-28a; WV Code § 55-20
West Virginia's intimate-images law explicitly covers AI-generated 'fabricated intimate images' — images created with AI or computer technology depicting someone's intimate parts. Disclosure or threats to disclose with intent to harass or coerce is a misdemeanor (first offense) and felony for repeats, with civil remedies under a separate uniform act.
Federal AI rules that apply in Charleston, West Virginia
These federal rules apply everywhere in the United States, including Charleston, West Virginia. Showing the 10 strongest and most recent.
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In effect Strength: stronger
TVA data center capacity commitment charge (2026)
Tennessee Valley Authority · Effective October 1, 2026 · Tenn. Valley Auth. Bd. of Dirs. — Data Center Capacity Commitment Charge (approved Aug. 20, 2026; eff. Oct. 1, 2026)
The Tennessee Valley Authority's Board of Directors approved a separate, higher wholesale rate for data centers on August 20, 2026, effective October 1. New or expanding data center loads above 5 megawatts now fall under a Capacity Commitment Charge attached to TVA's data center rate schedules, designed to recover the incremental capacity costs those customers impose on the system. The headline figures are substantial: upfront capacity commitment charges of roughly $1.5 million per megawatt, payable over three to five years, and an all-in average billing increase for data center customers of about 10%, phased in across three consecutive fiscal years. The stated purpose is to keep residential rates low while still serving growing data center demand. TVA matters here out of proportion to a single utility. It is a federal corporate agency supplying power across seven states, so this is not a state rate case but a regional cost-allocation decision reaching a large share of the Southeast — and TVA is among the first large US utilities to adopt a tariff aimed specifically at AI-driven load. Where most 2026 measures in this dataset restrict where data centers may be built, this one changes what they pay to run.
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In effect Strength: stronger
Bartz v. Anthropic
N.D. Cal. · Effective September 5, 2025 · Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:24-cv-05417 (N.D. Cal.)
Authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson sued Anthropic over its use of pirated-book datasets to train Claude. In June 2025 Judge William Alsup ruled that training on lawfully purchased books was fair use. The piracy claims (LibGen ingestion) proceeded toward settlement; in September 2025 Anthropic agreed to a $1.5 billion class settlement covering ~500,000 works. Judge Alsup granted preliminary approval September 25, 2025 and final approval July 20, 2026. The appeal period runs through August 19, 2026; class members will not receive payments until at least end of 2026.
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In effect Strength: stronger
COPPA + 2025 Rule (childrens data)
United States · Effective June 23, 2025 · 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506; 16 C.F.R. Part 312
COPPA requires online services aimed at children under 13 to get verifiable parental consent before collecting kids' personal data. The 2025 rule update — fully in effect since April 22, 2026 — adds biometric identifiers (like face templates and voiceprints, which matter for AI tools), requires separate parental consent before sharing children's data for targeted advertising, and tightens data retention limits.
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In effect Strength: stronger
TAKE IT DOWN Act
United States · Effective May 19, 2025 · Pub. L. No. 119-12 (S. 146)
Makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish intimate images of someone without consent, including AI-generated deepfakes. Social media and similar platforms must give victims a way to request removal and must take the content (and known copies) down within 48 hours. The platform removal requirement became enforceable May 19, 2026, and the FTC has already begun enforcement.
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Blocked / in litigation
NetChoice v. Yost (Ohio)
S.D. Ohio · Effective April 16, 2025 · NetChoice, LLC v. Yost, No. 2:24-cv-00047 (S.D. Ohio Apr. 16, 2025)
Ohio's Social Media Parental Notification Act — requiring parental consent for minors' social-media use, including algorithmic feeds — was preliminarily enjoined on February 12, 2024, then permanently enjoined on April 16, 2025 when the district court granted summary judgment for NetChoice. The state appealed to the Sixth Circuit, which vacated the district court's injunction in 2026.
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In effect Strength: stronger
Thaler v. Perlmutter (Copyright)
D.C. Cir. · Effective March 18, 2025 · Thaler v. Perlmutter, 130 F.4th 1039 (D.C. Cir. 2025)
The companion copyright case: Stephen Thaler sought to register a copyright with 'Creativity Machine' (his AI) as the author. The D.C. Circuit affirmed in March 2025 that the Copyright Act's human-authorship requirement is dispositive as a matter of statutory law. AI cannot be a copyright author under U.S. law.
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In effect Strength: stronger
Louis v. SafeRent
D. Mass. · Effective November 20, 2024 · Louis v. SafeRent Solutions, LLC, No. 1:22-cv-10800 (D. Mass.)
SafeRent agreed in November 2024 to a $2.275M settlement and a five-year ban on using its 'SafeRent Score' for housing-voucher applicants, after a class action alleged its AI tenant-screening tool systematically denied housing to Black and Hispanic Section 8 voucher holders. The first major AI tenant-screening Fair Housing Act settlement.
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In effect Strength: stronger
FTC Impersonation Rule (AI)
United States · Effective April 1, 2024 · 16 C.F.R. Part 461; 89 Fed. Reg. 15017
The FTC's Impersonation Rule lets the agency directly sue scammers who pretend to be a government agency or a real business — including those who use AI-cloned voices or generated images to do so. Civil penalties can reach $53,088 per violation. The FTC also issued a supplemental notice in February 2024 proposing to extend the rule to all individual impersonation.
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In effect Strength: stronger
FTC v. Rite Aid
FTC · Effective February 26, 2024 · FTC v. Rite Aid Corp., No. 2:23-cv-05023 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 19, 2023)
The FTC banned Rite Aid from using facial-recognition technology in its stores for five years after finding the pharmacy chain's FRT system falsely tagged customers — disproportionately women and people of color — as shoplifters, leading to wrongful detentions and humiliations.
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In effect Strength: stronger
TCPA (AI voice calls)
United States · Effective February 8, 2024 · 47 U.S.C. § 227; FCC 24-17
Robocalls using AI-cloned or AI-generated voices are treated like other 'artificial voice' calls: callers need your prior express consent, must identify themselves, and must offer opt-outs for telemarketing. You can personally sue violators for $500 to $1,500 per illegal call.
Frequently asked questions about AI laws in Charleston, West Virginia
Are there AI laws in Charleston, West Virginia?
What federal AI rules apply in Charleston?
Does West Virginia have an AI privacy law?
Are deepfakes illegal in West Virginia?
Can my employer use AI to screen me for jobs in Charleston?
How do I report an AI law violation in Charleston?
Are facial recognition cameras allowed in Charleston?
Is Charleston regulated by West Virginia's consumer privacy act?
Have we missed an AI rule in Charleston?
This page is generated from our open civic dataset. If you know of a Charleston ordinance, county rule, or local enforcement action we should add, email feedback@ailawsusa.com or submit a correction. Every entry must include a verifiable source.