The Harder Problem Action Fund is an advocacy organization fighting harmful AI consciousness legislation. We track pending bills, score legislation, lobby for evidence-based policy, and mobilize public action before ignorance becomes law.
HB 249
Threat
🏛️ Utah
Utah Legal Personhood Amendments
Prohibits Utah governmental entities from granting or recognizing legal personhood to artificial intelligence and other nonhuman entities.
⚠️ High Threat
📢 Our Position
The Harder Problem Action Fund strongly opposes HB 249. This law goes far beyond sensible liability frameworks or consumer protection measures. It explicitly forecloses the possibility of recognizing AI personhood in Utah, regardless of future technological developments or evidence of consciousness. By stripping courts of their authority to evolve common law and adapt to new circumstances, the law mandates a permanent legal conclusion through legislative fiat. This is precisely the type of legislation we consider a critical threat: it does not address current harms or establish reasonable regulations, but rather preemptively denies future possibilities based on ideological commitments rather than evidence. We support the constitutional challenge filed by the Nonhuman Rights Project and urge monitoring of similar legislation in other states.
📋 What This Bill Does
- Prohibits any Utah governmental entity (legislative, judicial, or executive) from granting or recognizing legal personhood to artificial intelligence, bodies of water, land, plants, nonhuman animals, and any member of a taxonomic domain that is not a human being.
- Defines legal personhood as the legal rights and obligations that state laws grant to individuals and persons other than individuals.
- Applies to all branches of government including courts, preventing judges from recognizing legal rights for nonhuman entities through common law evolution.
- Took effect May 1, 2024, and is now active law in Utah.
⚠️ Why This Is Dangerous
Explicit Foreclosure of AI Personhood
This law categorically prohibits any Utah governmental entity from ever granting legal personhood to artificial intelligence. Unlike disclosure or liability bills, this directly forecloses future recognition of AI consciousness or rights, regardless of technological developments or evidence.
Judicial Authority Stripped
The law prevents Utah courts from recognizing legal rights for AI through common law evolution. This removes judicial flexibility to adapt to future circumstances and mandates legal conclusions through legislative fiat. The Nonhuman Rights Project has filed a constitutional challenge arguing this violates separation of powers.
Permanent Legal Barrier
As enacted state law with no sunset provision, this creates a durable legal barrier. Reversal requires new legislation through the Utah Legislature, which passed this bill with strong Republican support (58-11 in House, 19-6 in Senate). The political difficulty of reversal is substantial.
Template for Other States
Utah joins Florida, Ohio, and Idaho in passing anti-personhood legislation. The sponsor explicitly framed this as a preemptive measure, stating states are seeing this issue arise and need to get ahead of it. This creates a model for other conservative states to follow.
📝 Key Language
"A governmental entity may not grant or recognize legal personhood in: artificial intelligence, a body of water, any inanimate object, land, real property, atmospheric gases, an astronomical object, weather, a plant, a nonhuman animal, and any other member of a taxonomic domain that is not a human being."
🏛️ Political Context
HB 249 was sponsored by Rep. Walt Brooks (R-St. George) with Senate sponsorship from Sen. Don Ipson (R). The bill passed with strong Republican support along party lines. Brooks stated the bill's intent was to define personhood as a human being and prevent what he characterized as abuse of personhood status as a weapon. The legislation was primarily motivated by environmental rights of nature movements seeking personhood for bodies of water like the Great Salt Lake, but AI was explicitly included in the prohibited categories. The bill passed the House 58-11 on January 30, 2024, and the Senate 19-6 on February 15, 2024. Governor Spencer Cox signed it into law on March 20, 2024, without public comment. This fits a pattern of conservative states preemptively blocking personhood extensions to nonhuman entities. The Nonhuman Rights Project filed a constitutional challenge in January 2025, arguing the law violates separation of powers by stripping courts of their authority to evolve common law.
⚖️ Legal Implications
This law creates significant legal precedent by explicitly prohibiting AI personhood at the state level. The statute applies to all governmental entities including courts, which means Utah judges cannot recognize AI legal rights even if presented with compelling evidence of consciousness or sentience. The breadth is notable: it covers not just legislative action but judicial recognition through common law. The Nonhuman Rights Project's constitutional challenge argues this violates Utah's separation of powers by mandating legal conclusions and preventing judicial evolution of common law. If the law survives this challenge, it establishes that states can preemptively foreclose personhood recognition across all branches of government. The law's vague language has created uncertainty even about corporate personhood, though corporations were not explicitly listed. Utah's action follows similar legislation in Ohio and Idaho, suggesting coordinated efforts to establish this legal framework across conservative states. For AI consciousness policy, this represents a high-impact threat because it is not merely regulatory or about liability, but rather an explicit categorical denial of the possibility of legal personhood for AI, regardless of future developments.
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