AI Use Statement
Last updated: October 9, 2026
LobbyGov uses generative AI from OpenAI in a few optional features, and an agency can turn all of them off for its account. The AI is never trained on agency data, and nothing one account enters is used for another.
Short answers
- Does LobbyGov use generative AI?
- Yes, in six optional features listed below. All use OpenAI models.
- Does it use agentic AI?
- In one feature only, the AI Report Builder, and only for questions a person types in their own words. There the AI chooses which read-only lookups to run (for example “this bill's votes”). It cannot change data, send email, create reports or act on its own; a person starts every run and reads the result.
- Does the AI learn from what customers enter?
- No. No model is trained or fine-tuned on customer data, and nothing one account enters is ever used for another account.
- Does it read information customers enter?
- Only in the AI Report Builder, and only when a person on that account uses it. It reads that account's own positions, priorities, list comments and notes to answer that person. It never reads Bill Analysis answers.
- Are AI bill summaries built from customer data?
- No. Shared summaries are written from public legislative records only, such as bill text, the Legislature's bill reports and roll calls.
- Can an agency turn AI off?
- Yes. One account setting turns every AI feature and all AI-written content off for everyone on the account. A second turns off just the AI Report Builder, the only feature that reads what an agency entered.
- Did the previous LobbyGov use AI?
- No. AI arrives with the new LobbyGov.
The AI features
Six features use AI. Only the AI Report Builder reads anything an agency entered. Every one goes off with the account switch, and the AI Report Builder can also be turned off on its own.
| Feature | What it does | What the AI reads | Started by | Generative / agentic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI bill snapshot | A short and a detailed plain-language summary on each bill's page | Public records: bill text, status, history, the Legislature's bill reports, amendments, roll calls, fiscal note references | LobbyGov, once per bill on a schedule; the same summary is shown to every account | Generative |
| AI bill summaries | Additional summaries of a bill, used on bill pages and as an optional report column | Public records: title, description, bill report, sponsors, status | LobbyGov staff only | Generative |
| Ask AI about a bill | Answers a person's question about one bill | Public records about that bill, plus the person's typed question and the conversation so far | The person, by typing a question | Generative |
| Ask AI about the RCW, WAC or a rule | Answers a question about a section of law or a rulemaking | Public statute and rule text and the bills that change it, plus the typed question | The person, by typing a question | Generative |
| AI Report Builder | Answers questions about the account's tracked bills, or drafts a memo or update the person can save | Public records, and that account's own positions, priorities, client and list names, list comments, bill and legislator notes and vote card notes, limited to what that person can already see | The person. A typed question runs up to six rounds of read-only lookups before the AI writes; guided questions and document plans are built by code, with no AI | Generative and agentic (read-only) |
| Similar bills | Suggests related bills on a bill's page | A numeric fingerprint (embedding) of public bill titles and descriptions | LobbyGov staff; shared by every account | Not generative (similarity only) |
Your data
Agency data reaches the AI only when someone on that agency's account runs the AI Report Builder, and only to answer that person.
Sent to the AI provider, AI Report Builder only
- The question or request the person types, and the conversation so far.
- That account's tracking details for the bills in question: positions, priorities, client and list names, and list comments.
- That account's notes on bills and legislators, and vote card positions and notes.
- Only what the person running it can already see in LobbyGov. It cannot reach another person's private items or another account.
Never sent to the AI, by any feature
- Bill Analysis work: assignments, reviews, answers, approvals and comments.
- Custom fields, uploaded files, distribution lists, email addresses and passwords.
- Anything from another account.
Where the results go
- Shared bill summaries and similar-bill suggestions are made from public records only, so they carry nothing from any account.
- AI Report Builder answers and drafts are stored in that account, visible to the person who asked. A draft becomes a file only when that person saves it.
- Ask AI conversations about a bill are stored in the account and can be seen by others in the same account. RCW, WAC and rule conversations are not stored.
- No account's data is used to train, tune or improve any AI model, ours or the provider's.
The AI provider
All AI features use OpenAI's business API (models such as GPT-4o), called from LobbyGov's servers. Agency users never connect to OpenAI directly, and no OpenAI account is created for them.
- No training: OpenAI states that “data sent to the OpenAI API is not used to train or improve OpenAI models” unless the customer opts in. LobbyGov has not opted in.
- Retention at OpenAI: OpenAI keeps abuse-monitoring logs “for up to 30 days, unless longer retention is required by law”. LobbyGov asks OpenAI not to store conversation history beyond that (the API's
storesetting is off). - Shorter retention: OpenAI offers Zero Data Retention to eligible business customers, which keeps customer content out of those logs. LobbyGov can apply for it if an agency requires it.
- In transit: every request is sent over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection.
Source: OpenAI API data controls.
Turning AI off
One account setting, “AI features”, turns AI off for everyone on the account, immediately. An account administrator can change it under Settings, AI Features, or LobbyGov can set it on the agency's behalf before anyone signs in.
With AI off:
- Every AI feature disappears: Ask AI on bills, laws and rules, and the AI Report Builder.
- AI-written content is not shown: no bill snapshots, AI summaries, AI report columns or similar-bill suggestions.
- No request carrying that account's data or questions goes to OpenAI.
- Everything else in LobbyGov works as before. Bill tracking, reports, schedules, vote cards and Bill Analysis do not depend on AI.
- Each change is recorded with who made it and when.
A second setting, “AI Report Builder”, on the same page, turns off just the builder and the documents it wrote. With it off, none of the agency's records (tracking lists, positions, priorities, comments) are sent to OpenAI. Ask AI and the public-record features stay available; Ask AI sends only public records and the question a person types. It is recorded the same way.
Agencies can keep AI off until their review is complete, then turn it on themselves.
Safeguards
- Facts come from records, not the AI. In the AI Report Builder, LobbyGov looks up the facts and the AI only chooses and words them. Its guided questions (what changed, what needs attention, how a chamber voted) are answered entirely by code, with no AI. Vote counts are re-read from the official roll call before they are shown.
- Every fact is sourced. Answers and drafts number each claim and link it to the bill, vote or hearing it came from. Anything the AI could not find is marked for the person to fill in or remove, and a draft cannot be saved until that is done.
- Read-only. The AI cannot change data, send email, create reports or schedules, or act without a person starting it.
- Same permissions as the person. The AI sees only what the person using it can already see in LobbyGov.
- Usage limits. Each account has a monthly cap on AI Report Builder runs. Guided questions use no run.
- Labelled. AI features are marked as AI in the product, and the AI Report Builder is marked Beta.
Questions
For anything this statement does not answer, or to have AI turned off before your staff sign in, email info@lobbygov.com.
Sources: OpenAI API data controls; LobbyGov's own review of its application code, October 2026.