The Fear Index
Rank 4 of 17
Kids and chatbots
AI harming children or teens: companion chatbots, minors' safety or mental health, grooming, exploitation, age-inappropriate AI content.
79
on the Fear Index
Bills61
Lobbying filings197
News227
Wikipedia18.7K
The receipts
18,727Wikipedia views on this fear in the last 30 days
227news articles about it in the last 30 days
61bills, resolutions, rules and orders cite it since January 2025, in 26 states and Congress
76new government controls written into those bills
197federal lobbying filings name it, past year
$272Kspent lobbying on it by advocacy groups, past year
In their own words
The fear as each bill's official summary or text states it, and the controls the same bill would create.
“Establishes protections for minor account holders of conversational artificial intelligence services.”
HB 2502, HawaiiNot passedLabel or AI noticeMandatory reportingNew agency powersUse limits2 offices“Required to institute technically feasible measures to prevent the conversational artificial intelligence service from producing explicit sexual conduct, intimate digital depictions, or statements that simulate emotional dependence”
HB 1263, ColoradoPassedID checks for usersLabel or AI noticeUse limitsColorado Attorney General“text-based conversations that simulate or describe sexual conduct, as that term is defined by Section 43.25, Penal Code, while impersonating or imitating a child younger than 18 years of age”
HB 149, TexasPassedMandatory reportingNew agency powersUse limits2 offices“Establishes protections for users and minor users of AI companions.”
SB 3001, HawaiiPassedLabel or AI noticeMandatory reportingHawaii Department of Health - Behavioral Health…“design, develop, or make available an artificial intelligence chatbot knowing or with reckless disregard that the chatbot poses certain risks of soliciting minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct”
SB 1455, MissouriNot passedID checks for usersLabel or AI noticeUse limitsMissouri Attorney General
What it's buying
The government controls written into the bills that cite this fear.
Who's funding it
Advocacy groups and foundations lobbying on this fear, past year.
Who benefits
Agencies and officials these bills would hand new power, by number of bills.
- 1California Attorney General2bills
- 2Colorado Attorney General1bill
- 3Oklahoma Attorney General1bill
- 4Hawaii Attorney General1bill
- 5Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs1bill
Everyone else lobbying
Companies, trade groups, think tanks, unions and other groups whose lobbying filings name this fear, past year.
- 1American Association for Justice8 filings
- 2LinkedIn8 filings
- 3American Security Fund8 filings
- 4Apple7 filings
- 5News Media Alliance7 filings
- 6Pinterest7 filings
Money, bills and attention
Money on filings naming it
Bills citing it
Wikipedia views
Each dot is 7 bills. Sources: lobbying filings on LDA.gov that name this fear, the bills that cite it, and Wikipedia readership of its articles.
Latest on this fear
- Lobbying filing2026-11-03Common Sense Media filed a lobbying report that mentions AI, $5K for the quarter across all its issues
- Lobbying filing2026-10-23Business Software Alliance filed a lobbying report that mentions AI, $430K for the quarter across all its issues, naming H.R. 1000, H.R. 2385, H.R. 2417, H.R. 2765, H.R. 3220, H.R. 3788, H.R. 3838, H.R. 3961, H.R. 4142, H.R. 4942, H.R. 633, H.R. 6875, H.R. 7604, H.R. 8189, H.R. 8413, H.R. 8516, H.R. 9442, H.R. 9915, H.R. 9925, S. 1337, S. 1344, S. 1362, S. 146, S. 1746, S. 1748, S. 1792, S. 2081, S. 2558, S. 2750, S. 3150, S. 3597, S. 4570, S. 5368, S. 836
- Lobbying filing2026-10-21National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners filed a lobbying report that mentions AI, $24K for the quarter across all its issues, naming H.R. 10280, H.R. 1435, H.R. 1735, H.R. 2319, H.R. 2493, H.R. 3333, H.R. 3593, H.R. 3624, H.R. 3701, H.R. 3884, H.R. 4262, H.R. 4340, H.R. 4407, H.R. 4564, H.R. 4709, H.R. 4725, H.R. 5145, H.R. 5434, H.R. 5448, H.R. 5469, H.R. 5582, H.R. 6088, H.R. 6121, H.R. 6252, H.R. 6291, H.R. 6394, H.R. 6396, H.R. 6484, H.R. 6561, H.R. 6703, H.R. 6844, H.R. 6845, H.R. 6945, H.R. 7092, H.R. 7352, H.R. 7567, H.R. 7757, H.R. 7867, H.R. 7875, H.R. 7973, H.R. 8081, H.R. 8089, H.R. 8163, H.R. 8201, H.R. 8209, H.R. 8385, H.R. 8425, H.R. 8429, H.R. 8521, H.R. 8623, H.R. 8657, H.R. 9257, H.R. 9393, S. 1157, S. 1482, S. 1599, S. 1748, S. 1874, S. 1924, S. 2011, S. 2169, S. 2303, S. 2355, S. 272, S. 278, S. 2826, S. 2857, S. 2858, S. 2954, S. 3062, S. 3199, S. 3281, S. 3315, S. 3386, S. 3402, S. 3569, S. 3714, S. 3799, S. 3853, S. 4061, S. 4088, S. 4110, S. 4141, S. 4186, S. 4189, S. 4202, S. 4242, S. 4387, S. 4754, S. 4875, S. 5090, S. 5180, S. 5283, S. 5305, S. 705, S. 779, S. 836, S. 891, S. 921
- Lobbying filing2026-10-20Sony Interactive Entertainment filed a lobbying report that mentions AI, $380K for the quarter across all its issues, naming H.R. 2657, H.R. 3149, H.R. 6253, H.R. 6265, H.R. 6291, H.R. 6333, H.R. 7757
- Lobbying filing2026-10-20Ctia-The Wireless Association filed a lobbying report that mentions AI, $3.9M for the quarter across all its issues, naming H.R. 1027, H.R. 10453, H.R. 10705, H.R. 1655, H.R. 2298, H.R. 2784, H.R. 2805, H.R. 2817, H.R. 3960, H.R. 4950, H.R. 5967, H.R. 6152, H.R. 6291, H.R. 7022, H.R. 7294, H.R. 7757, H.R. 8255, H.R. 8413, H.R. 9129, S. 1748, S. 244, S. 2666, S. 3199, S. 3495, S. 3639, S. 4199, S. 4322, S. 4407, S. 4950, S. 4968, S. 5171, S. 737, S. 836
- Lobbying filing2026-10-20National Nurses United filed a lobbying report that mentions AI, $50K for the quarter across all its issues, naming H.R. 10044, H.R. 2633, H.R. 9442, S. 4214
The bills
The ones carrying the most controls, first.
- HB 2502, HawaiiNot passedLabel or AI noticeMandatory reportingNew agency powersUse limitsRead it on capitol.hawaii.gov
- H 5476, South CarolinaNot passedID checks for usersMandatory reportingUse limitsRead it on scstatehouse.gov
- S 1037, South CarolinaNot passedID checks for usersMandatory reportingUse limitsRead it on scstatehouse.gov
- HB 1263, ColoradoPassedID checks for usersLabel or AI noticeUse limitsRead it on leg.colorado.gov
- SB 1455, MissouriNot passedID checks for usersLabel or AI noticeUse limitsRead it on senate.mo.gov
- HB 659, FloridaDid not passID checks for usersLabel or AI noticeMandatory reportingRead it on flsenate.gov
- HB 149, TexasPassedMandatory reportingNew agency powersUse limitsRead it on capitol.texas.gov
- SB 243, CaliforniaPassedLabel or AI noticeMandatory reportingUse limitsRead it on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- SB 540, GeorgiaPassedLabel or AI noticeUse limitsRead it on legis.ga.gov
- HB 2772, KansasDid not passLabel or AI noticeUse limitsRead it on kslegislature.gov