AI Frontier Institute

Reducing emissions from artificial intelligence

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House Bill 495 (House Docket 4192, 194th General Court, 2025-2026) has not been enacted. The official record shows it was referred to the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, had a hearing in September 2025, and on 2026-03-05 was accompanied by a study order (H5178). If enacted, it would add a new Chapter 93M, "Artificial Intelligence," to the General Laws. Section 1 defines terms, including "covered entity," "reporting entity," and "affirmative consent." Covered entities operate a search engine with an AI or generative AI service. Both covered and reporting entities exclude those with average annual gross revenues not above $10,000,000. Section 2 would bar covered entities, within 18 months of the effective date, from running a search engine that automatically returns AI-generated results. The exception is for users who give affirmative consent. The Executive Office of Technology Services and Security would recognize centralized consent mechanisms. These would have to inform users, present the choice before a generative AI result is produced, and offer a continuous choice for each search query. They would also have to be easy to use, available in covered languages, and accessible to people with disabilities. Section 3 would require the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, working with the Secretary of Technology Services and Security, to complete and publish a study of AI's environmental impacts within 18 months. The study would cover lifecycle energy use and pollution of models and hardware, data center energy and water use for cooling, local grid, water and noise stress, positive and negative impacts, and disparate impacts. It would also direct development of a reporting system. Under that system, reporting entities would annually report carbon emissions, water use, waste, mining, and pollution per product, plus any offset or mitigation efforts. The reports would be posted publicly. Failing to report would carry a penalty of up to $20,000 per year.

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