{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-bill-to-protect-children-from-ai-chatbots-gains-new-cosponsors/", "Hawley Bill to Protect Children from AI Chatbots Gains New Cosponsors", "2025-12-10", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "Senate", "MO", "Josh Hawley", "H001089", "www.hawley.senate.gov", "hawley", "https://www.hawley.senate.gov/press-releases/page/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced additional cosponsors for the GUARD Act, his bipartisan legislation that would protect children from predatory AI chatbots. In addition to the GUARD Act\u2019s original cosponsors Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), Senator Hawley secured additional support for the GUARD Act from Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R- Utah) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).\n\nSenator Hawley\u2019s GUARD Act would ban AI companions for minors, mandate that AI chatbots disclose its non-human status, and create new crimes for companies that make AI for minors that solicit or produce sexual content. The legislation is gaining traction in the Senate as a bipartisan coalition works to protect the most vulnerable.\n\n\u201cAI chatbots are killing our kids. I\u2019m thankful to see this issue gaining bipartisan momentum in the Senate,\u201d said Senator Hawley. \u201cWe must unite to ensure our children are protected from predatory AI chatbots.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s too easy for our children to gain access to AI bots that produce horrific content,\u201d said Senator Cotton. \u201cOur bill will require companies to use proper age verification to ensure minors don\u2019t have access to AI-generated explicit content.\u201d\n\n\u201cAI chatbots with no safeguards pose real harm to our children. Parents should not have to wonder whether a digital tool in their home is manipulating or endangering their kids,\u201d said Senator Lankford. \u201cThe GUARD Act sets firm safety standards and prevents companies from giving minors access to unsafe AI systems. Families deserve that level of protection.\u201d\n\n\u201cAI chatbots can act like online predators, luring our kids into mental health issues and exploitation,\u201d said Senator Lee. \u201cParents want better tools and fewer threats to their families, and kids deserve protection from AI-perpetrated harm. The GUARD Act would criminalize targeting minors with fake AI companions and hold big tech accountable for lying to our children.\u201d\n\n\u201cNearly three-quarters of all young people in our country are now turning to unregulated AI chatbots, with alarming consequences\u2014in some cases, even encouraging kids to engage in behavior that can hurt themselves and others. And Big Tech isn\u2019t doing enough to address it,\u201d said Senator Welch. \u201cThe safety of our children must always come first. This commonsense, bipartisan legislation will hold Big Tech accountable and protect kids across the country from predatory chatbots.\u201d\n\nIn October, Senator Hawley hosted a press conference highlighting the tragic stories of children who received guidance from AI chatbots on how to harm themselves or end their life. Hawley was joined by the GUARD Act\u2019s initial cosponsors: Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).\n\nThe GUARD Act has also received broad support from advocacy organizations, including the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, the National Parents Union, the Family Research Council, and more.\n\nThe GUARD Act would:\n\nBan AI companies from providing AI companions to minors.\n\nMandate that AI companions disclose their non-human status and lack of professional credentials for all users\n\nCreate new crimes for companies which knowingly make available to minors AI companions that solicit or produce sexual content", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-bill-to-protect-children-from-ai-chatbots-gains-new-cosponsors/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8577331900596619, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}