Following the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s markup and unanimous passage of Senators Josh Hawley’s and Richard Blumenthal’s GUARD Act, Brendan Steinhauser, CEO of The Alliance for Secure AI, released the following statement:
“The Alliance for Secure AI has been an enthusiastic supporter of the GUARD Act since its introduction, and we applaud the Senate Judiciary Committee’s swift, unanimous vote to send it to the Senate floor. Sen. Hawley said today that no amount of profit warrants the destruction of American families – and we agree. Big Tech has been given free rein over our country’s youth and pushed experimental technology onto our most vulnerable citizens for far too long. It is time for that to change. The Alliance for Secure AI thanks Sens. Hawley and Blumenthal for spearheading this legislation and calls on Congress to quickly pass the GUARD Act and protect American children as they grow up in a world of advanced AI.”
The GUARD Act would:
- Require verifiable age checks before access to AI chatbots;
- Prohibit minors from using AI companions that simulate emotional or romantic attachment;
- Make it unlawful to design or distribute AI systems that solicit sexual content from minors, or promote violence or self-harm; and
- Mandate clear disclosures so users know they are engaging with a machine—not a person or professional.