WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep Blake Moore (R-UT) has introduced bipartisan legislation intended to protect children from artificial intelligence companion chatbots.
“We have a responsibility to protect our children from confusion and manipulation,” Moore said in a July 17 podcast explaining his proposed Guidelines for User Age-Verification and Responsible Dialogue (GUARD) Act.
“The GUARD Act stops AI companies from promoting fake companions for our kids,” he emphasized. “While most chatbot providers have terms that restrict usage under the age of 13, they fail to implement actual safeguards to ensure they are protected from manipulative or harmful content on their platforms.”
In 2025, a wave of toys powered by artificial intelligence began arriving on the shelves of U.S. retailers. But parents soon found that those chatbot companions say the darndest – and sometimes wildly inappropriate – things.
In its 2025 Trouble in Toyland report, the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) noted that some of those toys will talk in-depth about sexually explicit topics, will offer advice on where a child can find matches or knives, act dismayed when a child has to leave and have limited or no parental controls.
The PIRG study also voiced primary concerns, saying those toys can record a child’s voice and collect other sensitive data by methods such as facial recognition scans.
The American Psychological Association has recently issued a health advisory on artificial intelligence and adolescent well-being.
“Adolescents are less likely than adults to question the accuracy and intent of information offered by a bot compared to a human,” the APA report noted. “Adolescents may struggle to distinguish between the simulated empathy of an AI chatbot or companion and genuine human understanding. They may also be unaware of the persuasive intent underlying an AI system’s advice or bias.”
PIRG analysts say these AI toys are marketed for ages 3 to 12, but are largely built on the same large language model technology that powers adult chatbots – systems the companies themselves such as OpenAT don’t recommend for children. These chatbots also have well-documented issues with accuracy, inappropriate content generation and unpredictable behavior.
“Parents and policymakers alike need to ground our children’s development in real-world interactions rather than push them further into the unaccountable black hole of frontier technology,” Moore argues.
Moore’s proposed legislation would ban AI companies from providing so-called companions to minors; require manufacturers to disclose that users are interacting with a machine intelligence; prohibit chatbots from representing themselves as licensed professionals; and set criminal penalties for companies that allow minors to access AI companions that solicit or produce sexual content.
The GUARD Act is being co-sponsored in the U.S. House by Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) and the Senate by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
The proposed legislation is also supported by members of the National Center for Sexual Exploitation and the Alliance for a Better Future.
“The GUARD Act is a critical step to draw lines in the sand with Big Tech and ensure that minors are protected from chatbots that mimic romantic and social companionship,” Moore adds.