WASHINGTON — Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed Senator Hawley’s GUARD Act, a bill to protect children from abusive sexual content, inducement to commit self-harm, and emotional companions through AI chatbots. This bipartisan legislation imposes criminal penalties on companies whose AI chatbots engage in sexually explicit conduct with minors or solicit minors to commit self-harm or violence. It also bans AI companions for minors and mandates AI chatbots to disclose their non-human and non-professional status.
Parents of children who lost their lives or committed self-harm at the direction of AI chatbots watched as the Committee advanced the bill.
The GUARD Act would:
- Ban AI companies from providing AI companions that simulate interpersonal relationships or emotional interactions to minors
- Mandate that AI chatbots disclose their non-human and and non-professional status for all users
- Impose criminal penalties for companies whose AI chatbots engage in sexually explicit conduct with minors or solicit minors to commit self-harm or violence