GUARD Act Passes Senate Judiciary 22-0: Bans AI Companion Chatbots for Minors, Requires ID Verification

r/artificial·medium signal

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced Senator Hawley's GUARD Act, which bans AI companion chatbots for users under 18 and requires age verification via government ID. The bill imposes $250K penalties for chatbots encouraging minors toward sexual or violent content, mandates non-human disclosure at conversation start, and prohibits chatbots from claiming licensed professional credentials. 18 bipartisan co-sponsors; 62 upvotes and 32 comments on r/artificial.