Senate bill co-led by Murkowski targets AI chatbot toys' risks to children

Toys with AI chatbots inside can be sold to Alaska families with no child-safety testing of what the chatbot actually says. A bipartisan bill aimed at that gap cleared a key U.S. Senate committee Wednesday.

The bill, co-led by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., wouldn't create immediate testing or sales rules. Instead, it orders the National Academies of Sciences to study the risks to children's well-being, and directs federal regulators to send Congress a joint action plan within two years. "It is imperative we equip policymakers and America's families with the knowledge they need to make informed choices about these devices," Murkowski said. Duckworth added: "Now the Senate must pass it with haste, for the sake of our kids' safety."

The concern is concrete. Federal toy standards cover choking, lead and flammability — not the software talking back. And 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. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has told Congress it lacks explicit authority to evaluate such non-physical harms, and the Federal Trade Commission has opened an inquiry into how AI companion chatbots affect children.

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 this year. Not everyone favors sweeping rules: attorneys at Crowell & Moring, a firm that advises technology and consumer-product companies, argue that broad 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.