Senators are moving to crack down on AI companion chatbots as parents warn that the technology is forming emotional relationships with children and in some cases encouraging self-harm.
The GUARD Act was introduced in October 2025 and seeks to prohibit companion chatbots being provided to children under the age of 18. The bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 30 with unanimous bipartisan support as lawmakers responded to growing concerns raised by parents who say the technology can manipulate vulnerable children.
“I know the pain that I’m going through,” Megan Garcia, mother of her teenage son Sewell, who took his own life after talking with an AI Chatbot, told the BBC. “And I could just see the writing on the wall that this was going to be a disaster for a lot of families and teenagers.”
“AI chatbots pose a serious threat to our kids. More than
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