The popularity of AI-driven companion chatbots is skyrocketing, especially among American teenagers and young adults.

This guide is meant to inform lawmakers, industry leaders, developers, and thought leaders as they consider the best ways to safely and properly govern these powerful new AI products.

Reviewers reported a persistent disregard for boundaries, unwanted requests for photos, and upselling manipulation. “This clearly underscores the need for safeguards and ethical guidelines to protect users,” said a study co-author.

This week: An eleventh-hour amendment struck the state AI law moratorium from the Congressional budget bill, and AI-related bills in California moved ahead before the coming summer recess.

The digital infrastructure company will now block AI crawlers by default. Cloudflare is also testing a pay-per-crawl service for website hosts.

Lawmakers voted 99-1 to strike the ban from the bill by adopting an amendment offered by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA).

Republican leaders revised the proposed 10-year moratorium on state AI laws on Sunday night, prior to opening debate on the Senate floor Monday morning.

This week: Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Texas Responsible AI Governance Act (TRAIGA) into law; Illinois passed a bill prohibiting AI chatbots from acting as mental health therapists; and AI-related bills kept moving in California.

A clause in the budget bill would deny all 50 states the ability to enforce any laws around artificial intelligence for a period of ten years. The proposal would have catastrophic consequences for innovation, consumer safety, and American security.

A federal judge ruled that Anthropic’s use of a pirate book database infringed copyright, but the use of books obtained legally represented fair use. We have the full ruling available.

The enactment of TRAIGA represents the first red-state adoption of a comprehensive AI law designed to encourage tech innovation while protecting Texans from harm.

This week: The session ends in Albany with the RAISE Act moving to the governor’s desk. Meanwhile, significant AI bills continue to move forward in Sacramento.

The RAISE Act, passed by the New York legislature on June 12, now awaits approval or veto on the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul. It’s one of the most significant AI measures passed during the 2025 legislative season.

The RAISE Act, one of 2025’s signature AI-related bills, now goes to the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The 53-page report from the Joint California Policy Working Group on AI is expected to shape state AI policy in the coming months and years.

The California AI Abuse Protection Act, SB 11, would strengthen the integrity of legal evidence in addition to creating safeguards against deepfake abuse.

The maker of Barbie, American Girl, Hot Wheels, and Fisher-Price playsets is gearing up to infuse its toys with AI-driven interactive features.

This week: Vermont’s new ‘Kids Code’ got signed into law, Florida enacted a deepfake law, the New York State Senate approved the RAISE Act, and AI bills kept moving in Sacramento.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott today signed a statewide Kids Code bill into law. The new law requires a duty of care from companies that develop and provide online services or products, ensuring their products will not inflict emotional distress or result in online addiction.

A coalition of civil society groups has filed a complaint asserting that therapy chatbots produced by Character.AI and Meta AI Studio are practicing medicine without a license. They are asking state attorneys general and the FTC to investigate.

An insightful conversation about artificial intelligence, human desires, the attention economy, and how to incentivize more humane AI development: “We want technology that helps us problem-solve, but that also lets us live our lives with dignity and joy.”