Senators are moving to crack down on AI companion chatbots as parents warn that the technology is forming emotional relationships with children and in some cases encouraging self-harm.
The GUARD Act was introduced in October 2025 and seeks to prohibit companion chatbots being provided to children under the age of 18. The bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 30 with unanimous bipartisan support as lawmakers responded to growing concerns raised by parents who say the technology can manipulate vulnerable children. (RELATED: This New Technology Is Transforming Cancer Screening)
“I know the pain that I’m going through,” Megan Garcia, mother of her teenage son Sewell, who took his own life after talking with an AI Chatbot, told the BBC. “And I could just see the writing on the wall that this was going to be a disaster for a lot of families and teenagers.”
“AI chatbots pose a serious threat to our kids. More than seventy percent of American children are now using these AI products. Chatbots develop relationships with kids using fake empathy and are encouraging suicide,” Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said in a statement released in October. “We in Congress have a moral duty to enact bright-line rules to prevent further harm from this new technology.”
The GUARD Act has drawn support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, passing out of the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously by a vote of 22-0.
My bill to stop AI from telling kids to kill themselves just passed out of committee UNANIMOUSLY.
No amount of profit justifies the DESTRUCTION of our children. Time to bring this bill to the Senate floor
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) April 30, 2026
“This issue is a matter of life or death,” Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said during the Senate Judiciary Committee markup, according to remarks provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“We can’t trust the Big Tech companies or AI enterprises to have a conscience and follow the dictates of that conscience,” Blumenthal stated.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by US Senator Chuck Grassley (C), Republican from Iowa, holds a hearing titled “The Truth Revealed: Hidden Facts Regarding Nazis and Swiss Banks,” on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on February 3, 2026. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)
What The Bill Would Do
The bill would ban minors from using AI companion chatbots, require companies to verify users’ ages and force chatbots to disclose that users are not communicating with a human. It would also create penalties for companies whose chatbots generate sexually explicit content for minors or solicit self-harm or violence.
An AI chatbot is a platform designed to simulate human conversation. These chatbots can be used by corporations to assist in customer service or by everyday users, while some systems are used to simulate companion or romantic relationships.
Republican Utah Rep. Blake Moore, who introduced the House companion bill, said the legislation is aimed at preventing children from forming unhealthy relationships with AI chatbots.
“Congressman Moore believes that culture is pushing our youth toward an overreliance on chatbots for connection, hindering critical stages of their growth and development,” a spokesperson from Moore’s office told the DCNF. “Our next generation should not be led into viewing unaccountable frontier technology the same as real-life human interactions.”
Moore’s office also pointed to an American Psychological Association report finding that young people are less likely than adults to vet information shared by a chatbot, creating a higher likelihood of influence from AI characters.
“Congressman Moore will continue to work with the House Judiciary Committee to build bipartisan support for the bill and get it scheduled for a markup,” Moore’s office added.
Privacy Groups Push Back
The legislation has drawn opposition from digital rights groups, which argue that the bill could force invasive age verification and restrict access to useful AI tools.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation pushed back on the legislation, arguing the revised bill is narrower than the original proposal but still raises privacy and free expression concerns.
“Important definitions in the bill remain unclear, especially as more conversational AI systems adopt persistent personas and respond to people’s emotional expression,” EFF senior policy analyst Joe Mullin told the DCNF. “Under this bill, even parents who specifically want their teenagers to use these systems would face hurdles to doing that. This bill would cause adults to face mandatory, invasive age checks.”
Mullin added that the bill’s penalties could push developers to restrict access to AI tools more broadly.
“With the bill’s steep penalties, some developers are likely to over-restrict access or avoid building some tools altogether,” Mullin said.
The legislation would require AI companies to use age verification before allowing users to access covered chatbot products, raising concerns from critics that companies could collect sensitive personal information.
Signange of AI (Artificial Intelligence) is displayed during the MWC (Mobile World Congress), the world’s biggest mobile fair, in Barcelona on March 3, 2025. (Photo by MANAURE QUINTERO/AFP via Getty Images)
Child Safety Groups Call For More Targeted Rules
Fairplay, a child advocacy group, said in an October statement that the definition of AI companions could be strengthened to better protect users from harmful chatbot products.
“We believe the definition of AI Companions can be strengthened to ensure that users are effectively protected from the wide array of AI chatbots currently causing harm,” Fairplay said.
The group also argued lawmakers should focus on how platforms are designed.
“We continue to believe that the most effective way to address the dangers currently facing children and teens from AI chatbots is to focus on platform design, prohibiting AI platforms from employing features that maximize engagement to the detriment of young people’s safety and wellbeing,” Fairplay said.
Fairplay also said language around age verification should be more narrowly tailored to prevent dangerous features from harming children and teens.
The bill cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee, but still needs to pass the full Senate. Moore’s office said he will continue working with the House Judiciary Committee to build bipartisan support and get the House version scheduled for markup.
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