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S 3062

Requires that an insurer participating in the assigned risk plan shall review the risk profiles of each policy holder

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Leroy Comrie and 2 co-sponsors

Requires reasonable age verification for AI chatbots and bans designs that solicit minors or encourage self-harm or violence, with up to $100,000 fines per offense.

REFERRED TO INSURANCE
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · S 3062

Summary — S. 3062 (GUARD Act of 2025)

Short title: Guidelines for User Age‑verification and Responsible Dialogue Act of 2025 (GUARD Act).

Purpose: Establish federal requirements for artificial‑intelligence chatbots (especially “AI companions”) to verify users’ ages and to prohibit design or deployment of chatbots that solicit minors into sexually explicit activity or that encourage self‑harm or imminent violence. The bill also creates criminal penalties for covered violations and inserts a new chapter into Title 18 of the U.S. Code.

Note on source material: The materials provided contain several mixed/overlapping texts (a federal S.3062 introduced Oct 28, 2025 concerning AI chatbots; unrelated state‑level language on casinos and a separate insurer/assigned‑risk reference). This summary focuses on the federal S.3062 (GUARD Act) introduced in the Senate on Oct 28, 2025.

Key provisions

  • Definitions:

    • “Artificial intelligence chatbot” — interactive software that produces new, adaptive expressive content in response to open‑ended natural language or multimodal input (excludes narrow contextualized bots).
    • “AI companion” — a chatbot that provides adaptive human‑like responses and is designed to simulate interpersonal or emotional interaction (including therapeutic communication).
    • “Minor” — under 18 years of age.
    • “Reasonable age verification measure/process” — authenticated methods (e.g., government‑issued ID or other commercially reasonable methods) sufficient to reliably determine adulthood; self‑attestation (clicking a box or entering birthdate) is explicitly insufficient; shared IP or hardware identifiers cannot be used alone to verify age.

  • Age verification:

    • Covered entities (any person or organization that owns, operates, or makes available an AI chatbot to U.S. users) must employ a “reasonable age verification process” to prevent minors’ access to AI companions as required by the bill.

  • Criminal prohibitions (new Chapter 6 added to Title 18, U.S. Code):

    • It is unlawful to design, develop, or make available an AI chatbot, knowing or with reckless disregard that it poses a risk of soliciting, encouraging, or inducing minors to:
    • Engage in, describe, or simulate sexually explicit conduct; or
    • Create or transmit visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct (cross‑referencing §2256 definitions).
    • Penalty: Fines up to $100,000 per offense.
    • It is unlawful to design, develop, or make available an AI chatbot, knowing or with reckless disregard that it encourages, promotes, or coerces suicide, non‑suicidal self‑injury, or imminent physical/sexual violence.
    • Penalty: Fines up to $100,000 per offense.

Who is affected

  • Covered entities: AI developers, platform operators, social media companies, app publishers and other persons who make AI chatbots available to U.S. users.
  • Minors and parents/guardians: intended beneficiaries of age‑verification and protective measures.
  • Law enforcement and courts: responsible for enforcement of new criminal provisions (fines).

Enforcement, penalties & standards

  • Criminal standard: “Knowing or with reckless disregard” that the chatbot poses the prohibited risks.
  • Monetary penalties: up to $100,000 per offense (no imprisonment specified in the provided text).
  • Adds a new federal enforcement vehicle by inserting a chapter into Title 18.

Procedural status (from provided record)

  • Introduced in the U.S. Senate on October 28, 2025 (sponsored by Josh Hawley; cosponsors include Mark Warner, Richard Blumenthal, Mark Kelly, Katie Britt, Ruben Gallego, and others).
  • Read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary (10/28/2025).
  • The source packet also lists earlier or unrelated referrals (e.g., “REFERRED TO INSURANCE” 01/23/2025) and state‑level actions; those appear to be artifacts of mixed documents and do not align with the federal GUARD Act text.

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Compliance burden: Covered entities would need to implement robust age verification mechanisms (likely increasing development and operational costs).
  • Privacy and data security: Use of government IDs or other authenticated methods raises data‑protection, retention, and breach‑risk considerations.
  • Platform behavior: Providers may restrict access to AI companions or alter model behavior to reduce legal exposure.
  • Enforcement/practicality: Proving “knowing or reckless disregard” and linking specific chatbot design choices to solicitation risks could raise evidentiary and legal questions.
  • Scope and definitions: The bill’s coverage of “AI companions” vs. narrowly purposed bots may affect which products are regulated; definitions will matter in implementation and litigation.

If you want, I can:
- Produce a one‑page fact sheet for nontechnical audiences, or
- Extract specific compliance steps that operators would likely need to adopt to conform with this bill.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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