Warner Applauds Committee Passage of Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Children from AI Chatbots

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today applauded the Judiciary Committee’s passage of legislation authored by Sen. Warner to protect children from AI chatbots. The Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue (GUARD) Act , introduced by Sen. Warner along with Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Katie Britt (R-AL), passed out of the committee unanimously. “AI chatbots put the mental and physical health of young people at risk,” said Sen. Warner . “I’m encouraged to see this bipartisan legislation advance through committee. It is time to put clear guardrails in place to protect children from manipulative or dangerous chatbot interactions and hold tech companies accountable.” The GUARD Act would: Ban AI companies from providing AI companions to minors. Mandate that AI companions disclose their non-human status and lack of professional credentials for all users. Create new crimes for companies which knowingly make available to minors AI companions that solicit or produce sexual content. Sen. Warner has long been a vocal advocate for Big Tech accountability and building a safer online environment. He introduced the Kids Off Social Media Act , legislation that would set a minimum age of 13 to use social media platforms and prevent social media companies from feeding algorithmically targeted content to users under the age of 17. Sen. Warner cosponsored the Kids Online Safety Act, which requires social media platforms to, by default, enable a range of protections against addictive design and algorithmic recommendations, privacy protections, dedicated channels to report harm, and independent audits by experts and academic researchers to ensure that social media platforms are taking meaningful steps to address risks to kids. Sen. Warner also introduced the bipartisan Sammy’s Law , which would require large social media platforms to permit parents to receive safety notifications through FTC-regulated third-party safety providers, giving them the tools to shield their children from harm. The legislation now advances to the full Senate for consideration. ###