TOP joins the coalition of over 60+ children’s safety, survivor-led, civil society, and tech watchdog organizations supporting the bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, ahead of a key markup in the Senate Judiciary Committee, The Tech Oversight Project endorsed S.3062, the GUARD Act. The bill, led by Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Katie Britt (R-AL), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Chris Murphy (D-CT), and supported by over 60 children’s safety, survivor parent, civil society, and tech watchdog organizations, would limit Big Tech companies’s ability to offer predatory companion chatbots to minors, products which have already caused addiction, AI psychosis, suicide, and even murder.

“Big Tech companies like Google, OpenAI, and Meta are already profiting from opening a Pandora’s box into the wild, without thought or care about how this affects kids or vulnerable people. The results have been an unmitigated disaster, and action must be taken before more lives are lost,” said Sacha Haworth, Executive Director of The Tech Oversight Project. “We are proud to endorse the GUARD Act because it prioritizes the safety of children and teens and, with first-of-its-kind non-human disclosures, would help protect vulnerable people of all ages and backgrounds from Big Tech’s dangerously designed products.”

S.3062, the GUARD ACT, would:

• Limit AI companies’ ability to provide companion chatbots to minors, which companies like Character.AI are already doing;
• Allow states to enact their own protections;
• Demand that AI companions disclose their non-human status and lack of professional credentials for all users;
• Give the U.S. Attorney General and state Attorneys General the ability to investigate and bring criminal cases against companies violating the law.