Lawmakers unveil bipartisan GUARD Act after parents blame AI chatbots for teen suicides, violence

By Fox News · Fox News

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Heartbroken parents are demanding justice after artificial intelligence (AI) "companion" chatbots allegedly groomed, manipulated and encouraged their children to take their own lives — prompting bipartisan outrage in Congress and a new bill that could potentially hold big tech accountable for minors' safety on their platforms. Senators Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., at a news conference Tuesday introduced new legislation aimed at protecting children from harmful interactions with AI chatbots. The GUARD Act, led by Privacy, Technology and the Law Subcommittee members Hawley and Blumenthal, would ban AI companion chatbots from targeting anyone under the age of 18. It would also require age verification for chatbot use, mandate clear disclosure that chatbots are not human or licensed professionals, and impose criminal penalties for companies whose AI products engage in manipulative behavior with minors. META AI DOCS EXPOSED, ALLOWING CHATBOTS TO FLIRT WITH KIDS Lawmakers were joined Tuesday by parents who said their teenage children suffered trauma or died after inappropriate conversations involving sex and suicide with chatbots from AI companies, including Character.AI and OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT. One mother, Megan Garcia, said her eldest son, Sewell Setzer III, 14, died by suicide last year at their home in Orlando, Florida , after being groomed by an AI chatbot for months. Garcia said Sewell became withdrawn and isolated in the months prior to his death, as they would later find out he was speaking with a Character.AI bot modeled after fictional "Game of Thrones" character Daenerys Targaryen. "His grades started to suffer. He started misbehaving in school. This was in complete contrast to the happy and sweet boy he had been all his life," Garcia said. "[The AI bo…