Senators announce bill to ban AI chatbot companions for minors

Sen. Josh Hawley and Sen. Richard Blumenthal are introducing legislation to crack down on tech companies that make AI chatbot companions available to minors.

Two senators said they are announcing bipartisan legislation on Tuesday to crack down on tech companies that make artificial intelligence chatbot companions available to minors, after complaints from parents who blamed the products for pushing their children into sexual conversations and even suicide.

The legislation from Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., follows a congressional hearing last month at which several parents delivered emotional testimonies about their kids’ use of the chatbots and called for more safeguards.

“AI chatbots pose a serious threat to our kids,” Hawley said in a statement to NBC News.

“More than seventy percent of American children are now using these AI products,” he continued. “Chatbots develop relationships with kids using fake empathy and are encouraging suicide. We in Congress have a moral duty to enact bright-line rules to prevent further harm from this new technology.”

Sens. Katie Britt, R-Ala., Mark Warner, D-Va., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., are co-sponsoring the bill.