Momentum builds in Congress to ban AI chatbots for kids and implement age-verification

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted Thursday to advance the GUARD Act.

The legislation would force AI companies to implement mandatory age-verification systems before any user access and explicitly ban them from providing AI companions or chatbots to minors.

Sponsored by Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue Act would also require AI companions to disclose their nonhuman status and lack of professional credentials at regular intervals.

Companies would face criminal penalties for designing, developing or making available AI systems that solicit or induce sexually explicit conduct from minors or encourage suicide.

A companion bill was introduced in the House by Reps. Blake Moore, R-Utah, and Valerie Foushee, D-N.C.

The bipartisan push follows repeated complaints from parents who blamed AI companions for pushing their children into sexual conversations and, in some cases, suicide.

Major platforms including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, xAI’s Grok, Meta AI and Character.AI currently allow children as young as 13 to use their services under existing terms of service.

“No amount of profit justifies the DESTRUCTION of our children,” Hawley posted on X.

The unanimous committee vote exposes the scale of unchecked AI engagement with minors and the industry’s prior refusal to self-regulate.