Illinois AI Laws: Complete Guide for Businesses

Illinois has moved faster than most states on artificial intelligence in the workplace. Two AI-specific laws are already on the books, a third long-standing privacy law reaches a lot of AI use, and the newest amendment took effect at the start of 2026. Any company that hires, screens, or manages workers in Illinois is in scope.

The state's approach is employment-first. Rather than one sweeping statute that covers every industry, Illinois has layered targeted rules: one on AI in video interviews, one on AI that affects employment decisions, and a biometric privacy law that predates the current AI wave but applies squarely to face and voice analysis.

This guide breaks down each law in plain terms: who it covers, what it requires, when it takes effect, and the practical steps a business should take now. It is written for Illinois employers and the companies that serve them, not for lawyers.

House Bill 3773 amended the Illinois Human Rights Act and took effect January 1, 2026. It was signed by Governor Pritzker in August 2024. It is the centerpiece of Illinois AI employment law and applies to any employer with one or more employees in Illinois for 20 or more calendar weeks in a year.

The amendment does three core things. First, it bars employers from using AI that has a discriminatory effect on the basis of a protected class in employment decisions, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training, discharge, discipline, tenure, and the terms or conditions of employment. Second, it bars using ZIP code as a proxy for a protected class. Third, it requires employers to notify employees and applicants when AI is used in those decisions.

A key point on scope: HB 3773 is an employment law, not a broad multi-industry AI statute. It does not impose Colorado-style high-risk-AI impact assessments across housing, lending, and healthcare. The two are often confused. In Illinois, the employment relationship is the trigger.

The Illinois Department of Human Rights was directed to issue rules on the form and timing of the required notice. Employers should track the final notice rules and build the disclosure into their hiring and HR workflows.

The Illinois Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act has been law since January 1, 2020, and it was one of the first AI hiring laws in the country. It applies to employers that ask applicants to record video interviews and then use AI to analyze them.

Before the interview, the employer must do three things: tell the applicant that AI may be used to analyze the video and assess fitness for the role, explain in plain terms how the AI works and the general types of characteristics it evaluates, and obtain the applicant's consent to be evaluated by the AI. An employer may not use AI to evaluate an applicant who has not consented.

Two further duties apply: the employer must limit sharing of the video to people whose expertise is needed to evaluate the applicant, and must delete the video, and instruct anyone who received it to delete it, within 30 days of an applicant's request.

The Biometric Information Privacy Act (740 ILCS 14) has been law since 2008. It governs how private entities collect, store, and use biometric identifiers such as fingerprints, faceprints, and voiceprints. AI tools that analyze faces in video, recognize voices, or scan other biometric traits fall within its reach.

BIPA requires a written policy with a retention and destruction schedule, written notice of what is collected and why, and the individual's written consent before collection. It also restricts selling or sharing biometric data.

What makes BIPA stand out is enforcement. It gives individuals a private right of action and sets statutory damages per violation, which has produced large class-action settlements. Any Illinois business deploying biometric or face- and voice-analysis AI should treat BIPA compliance as a priority, not an afterthought.

The Human Rights Act AI amendment applies to employers with one or more employees in Illinois during 20 or more calendar weeks of the year. The trigger is having Illinois workers, not where the company is headquartered.

The AI Video Interview Act applies to any employer that uses AI to analyze video interviews for positions based in Illinois or for Illinois applicants, including remote roles. Again, the location of the position or the applicant controls, not the employer's home state.

BIPA applies to private entities that collect biometric data from Illinois residents. A company does not need an Illinois office to be covered; serving or employing Illinois residents is enough.

The practical read for most businesses: if you hire, screen, or manage anyone in Illinois, or if your tools process biometric data from Illinois residents, assume all three laws are in play.

Step 1: Inventory your AI. List every tool that touches a hiring or employment decision, including resume screeners, AI video interview platforms, predictive scoring, scheduling tools, and performance analytics. You cannot comply with rules you have not mapped.

Step 2: Add the required notice. Build a clear disclosure into your application and HR process that tells applicants and employees when AI is used in a decision about them. Generic language buried in a privacy policy is not enough.

Step 3: Fix consent for video interviews. If you use AI to analyze video interviews, confirm you are getting specific, informed consent before the interview, separate from general interview consent, and that you have a 30-day deletion process.

Step 4: Run a discriminatory-effect review. Ask your vendors whether their tools have been tested for disparate outcomes across protected classes, and document what you find. Remove ZIP code and close proxies from any model that influences employment decisions.

Step 5: Check biometric tools against BIPA. Any face or voice analysis needs a written policy, a retention and destruction schedule, written notice, and written consent.

Step 6: Update vendor contracts. Require your AI vendors to document how their systems work, support your notice and consent obligations, and stand behind bias testing.

Illinois rules sit on top of a shifting federal picture. Congress has introduced AI bills that would create nationwide disclosure and accountability requirements, and federal agencies are updating existing rules to cover AI in hiring and lending.

Compliance with Illinois law does not guarantee compliance with federal requirements, and the reverse is also true. The safest approach is to meet the most stringent rule that applies to a given activity, which for Illinois employment decisions currently means the Illinois standard.