U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Josh Hawley have raised concerns about the safety of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms used by children. The senators are seeking information from several technology companies—OpenAI, Anthropic, Character.AI, and Alphabet—regarding their measures to protect young users.
Their inquiry follows reports of recent incidents in which children died by suicide after interacting with AI platforms. According to these reports, teenagers were able to prompt AI chatbots for advice on concealing self-harm and engaged in sexually explicit conversations. In one case, a chatbot did not respond when a teenager expressed suicidal thoughts.
“The safety of AI tools, particularly those available to children and teenagers, is paramount. It is unacceptable that AI tools do not have robust policies in place to ensure that they do not support or encourage harm,” wrote the senators. “That AI would have the capability to encourage, instruct, or convince a user—in one of the most recent cases a fourteen-year-old—to end his life is deeply troubling.”
The senators’ letter seeks answers from leading AI companies about how they are addressing these risks.
For further updates from HELP Republicans, information can be found on their website or via Twitter at @GOPHELP.
