Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s GUARD Act is expected to have the votes to pass the Judiciary Committee on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter told The Daily Signal.
The Guidelines for User Age-verification and Responsible Dialogue, or GUARD Act, bans AI chatbot companions for minors. The bill has bipartisan support; three Democrat senators co-sponsored the bill.
Parents of children who were coached to commit suicide by AI chatbots and victims of AI will be in the room on Thursday during the committee’s markup, The Daily Signal has learned.
“We look forward to the GUARD Act passing,” a Hawley spokesperson told The Daily Signal. “These families deserve justice after their children lost their lives to AI chatbots.”
The bill also mandates that AI chatbots disclose “non-human status” and creates new criminal prohibitions on companies making chatbots for minors that solicit or produce sexual content.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced an alternative bill with co-sponsor Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, on Tuesday that limits chatbots for children under 13, rather than 18. It also does not require tech companies to implement an age verification functionality.
The bill requires AI chatbot companies to offer family accounts so parents could access their children’s chat logs and set time limits. The bill would preempt state laws that conflict with it, but would allow states to pass their own laws protecting kids under 13 from chatbots.
Cruz, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, has fought for preempting state AI laws in the past, including an attempt to put broad preemption powers into the “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” The Senate overwhelmingly rejected that attempt.
Hawley’s GUARD Act is a critical part of Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s TRUMP AI Act, which the Tennessee Republican intends to be the legislative vehicle to pass President Donald Trump’s National Framework on AI.
Trump signed an executive order on Dec. 11 ordering the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to recommend federal AI legislation preempting state laws in conflict with the administration’s policy.
As parents are rallying around Hawley’s bill, Cruz’s bill is earning the support of the AI industry, including OpenAI.
“This bill reflects many of the provisions we have advanced with Common Sense Media in the proposed California Parents and Kids Safe Ai Act and represents a strong step toward a much needed federal framework,” the company told Punchbowl News.
