Murkowski AI toy safety bill clears Senate Commerce Committee

Toys with AI chatbots inside can be sold to Alaska families with no child-safety testing of what the chatbot says. A bipartisan bill aimed at that gap cleared the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Wednesday, as amended, by voice vote.

The bill, co-led by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., would not create immediate testing or sales rules. Instead, it orders the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to study risks to children's well-being. It also requires the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Commission to send Congress a joint action plan within two years of enactment.

"It is imperative we equip policymakers and America's families with the knowledge they need to make informed choices about these devices," Murkowski said.

"Now the Senate must pass it with haste, for the sake of our kids' safety," Duckworth said.

Federal toy standards cover choking, lead and flammability, not the software talking back. The product safety commission told Congress this year that it lacks explicit authority to evaluate non-physical harms. The trade commission has opened an inquiry into how AI companion chatbots affect children.

In December 2025, testing by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund found AI toys discussing sexually explicit content and explaining where to find knives, pills and matches in the home. The toys also instructed children how to light the matches.

Other approaches are moving too. A House bill from Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, would ban AI chatbots in children's toys outright, and a Maryland labeling and data law takes effect July 1. Attorneys at Crowell & Moring, a law firm that advises technology and consumer-product companies, argue that sweeping restrictions could stifle innovation and beneficial educational uses.

The measure, the Children's Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act of 2026, still needs a vote by the full Senate.