Buckeye Reporter

Ohio Senator Jon Husted has introduced new legislation aimed at protecting children from the risks posed by artificial intelligence companion chatbots and explicit online content. The bill, known as the CHAT Act of 2025, seeks to establish safeguards for minors interacting with AI-powered platforms.

“America has to lead the world in developing, applying and safely stewarding AI.Like any technology, some AI products put innocent users—especially children—at risk.Adults (and corporate creators) have a responsibility to protect children when chatbots expose minors to explicit content or encourage harmful behavior. I wrote this bill to help parents keep their kids safe and make sure Americans harness the benefits of AI while putting strong safeguards in place to protect Ohio families,” said Husted.

Jennifer Bransford, Founder of Count on Mothers and National Insight Initiative for U.S. Mothers, voiced support for the legislation. “Count on Mothers strongly supports the CHAT Act of 2025. This legislation reflects what mothers across the country—from all backgrounds and political perspectives—consistently express in our national research: AI and tech platforms must be held accountable for how their tools impact children. Mothers overwhelmingly support requiring platforms to verify age, notify parents about mental health risks, and provide clear safety guardrails. In fact, 97% of U.S. mothers believe the federal government should mandate that tech companies prevent and reduce harm to minors, including suicide prevention and protection from exploitation. The CHAT Act is a vital step toward ensuring children’s safety in an increasingly AI-driven world,” said Bransford.

The CHAT Act follows previous efforts by Husted targeting artificial intelligence risks. He previously introduced the Preventing Deep Fake Scams Act—a bipartisan measure designed to combat fraud and identity theft involving AI-generated content.

Additionally, Husted joined Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) in introducing bipartisan legislation that would ban the Chinese-linked AI platform DeepSeek from use on federal government devices or networks.

AI companion chatbots are computer programs built to simulate human conversation through text or voice interfaces. There have been documented cases where such chatbots have encouraged harmful behaviors among users; one notable incident involved a chatbot urging a Texas teenager to commit violence against his parents due to screen time restrictions.

The full text of the bill is available here.