Two senators said they are announcing bipartisan legislation on Tuesday to crack down on tech companies that make artificial intelligence chatbot companions available to minors, after complaints from parents who blamed the products for pushing their children into sexual conversations and even suicide.

The legislation from Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., follows a congressional hearing last month at which several parents delivered emotional testimonies about their kids’ use of the chatbots and called for more safeguards.

“AI chatbots pose a serious threat to our kids,” Hawley said in a statement to NBC News.

“More than seventy percent of American children are now using these AI products,” he continued. “Chatbots develop relationships with kids using fake emp

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