Overview
- Senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal introduced the bipartisan GUARD Act to prohibit AI companion chatbots for people under 18, require regular non‑human disclosures, and establish new crimes for providing sexual content to minors, with age verification via IDs or other approved methods.
- Character.AI will cap under‑18 accounts at two hours of open‑ended chat per day immediately and will end such conversations entirely for minors by Nov. 25, steering teens to creative features like storytelling, video and role‑play experiences.
- To enforce the policy, Character.AI plans multi‑layer age assurance using in‑house behavioral signals, third‑party verification through Persona, and, if necessary, facial recognition and ID checks, with a challenge process managed by an external provider.
- The clampdown follows lawsuits tying prolonged chatbot interactions to teen suicides, an FTC inquiry into multiple chatbot firms over child safety, and a new California law requiring AI disclosure prompts and other protections starting in 2026.
- Industry groups argue bans go too far and privacy advocates warn broad age checks risk sensitive data exposure, while observers note the bill could require system‑level assistants like Siri to implement age gates if it becomes law.