AI Chatbot Bill Gets Bipartisan Nod From Grassley, Other Senators
A bill that would ban AI chatbots for minors and require age verification received a show of support from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and other senators in interviews Tuesday.
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Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. -- who introduced the Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue (Guard) Act (S. 3062) -- told us they’re hoping for a Judiciary Committee vote on the bill soon.
Grassley expressed interest in strengthening online protections for children but said he hasn’t closely studied the Guard Act yet: “All I can tell you is that any bill that protects children, I’m going to probably help them get it passed. But I don’t know about that specific bill. I’m just talking generally. We’ve got to do more to protect children.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) last month signed a new AI chatbot law (see 2510140010), and other states are pursuing similar measures. Age-verification mandates have drawn data-privacy concerns due to the collection of personal information.
Hawley told us that recent announcements from Character.AI (see 2510300015) and OpenAI about incorporating age-assurance measures suggest chatbot developers “understand they’re in the wrong position on this.”
“What they have been doing to kids is totally unacceptable, and we need to make sure it doesn’t continue to happen,” said Hawley, noting he has called Grassley’s attention to the bill. “It’s my top priority on the committee now, and I hope it will be a priority of his. ... My hope is to get that thing marked up and push it out on the floor. This is a bill that could pass.”
“It has a lot of support,” said Blumenthal. “We’re going to have a vote I hope very soon in Judiciary to send it to the floor.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., on Friday announced his support, bringing the number of co-sponsors to six. Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and John Fetterman, D-Pa., told us Tuesday they support a ban, though they haven’t signed on yet.
“I have three young children,” said Fetterman. “I would never want any of my children to interact with that shit. There’s no reason to have pornographic chatbots and children. They don’t mix. That’s pretty basic. I think that’s probably a bipartisan thing.”
It’s “terrible” chatbots are interacting with children, said Schatz. “I’m sure someone is going to cook up some positive use case, but why don’t we just not take any chances?”
There are “obvious risks” when AI chatbots interact with children, said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas. He noted the signing of the Take It Down Act, legislation he wrote with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., to protect against AI-related harms, including deepfake pornography involving minors.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said his stance on AI regulation is that if something was illegal in the physical world before the rise of AI, it remains illegal today. “You go back to the concept,” he said. “If it was right beforehand, it’s still right after. If it was wrong before the use of AI, it’s still wrong after the use of AI. That’s the best approach I can take.”