A Senate committee advanced bipartisan legislation restricting minors’ access to AI chatbots, raising new questions about child safety and AI regulation.

Parents testified before a Senate committee that AI chatbots allegedly manipulated their children into self-harm, fueling passage of the GUARD Act.

Leading AI chatbots have spooked experts by spitting out detailed instructions on how to build biological weapons capable of causing mass casualties, according to an alarming report Wednesday. While top AI labs like Google,

"In general, it is good to remember that however much an app may sound like a friend, what it is is a machine. And behind that machine is a corporation trying to extract a monthly fee from you," he reminded listeners.

The appeal is almost too clean. Ask for a lover, a therapist, a fictional world, or an answer to an endless chain of questions, and the machine responds right away.

Researchers believe AI models designed for warmth may lead to less accurate output. Credit: portishead1 via iStock / Plus Last year, researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute began testing five artificial intelligence chatbots to see if making them friendly changed their responses.

Here are five reasons you might wonder if turning to a chatbot should replace your therapist, alongside important considerations. You feel lonely, and you’re using the chatbot for companionship or friendship.

Though chatbots could have some benefits for mental health access, the physician lobby argued “immediate attention is required” to avoid harming patients looking for support.

Research shows media coverage of AI chatbot use and mental health focuses on instances of user psychosis and suicide.

Artificial intelligence is no longer just lurking in the background of Bay Area tech offices. A new national health poll shows Americans are now asking chatbots what to do about their bodies, and in some cases,

AI chatbots are accused of negatively affecting people asking for mental health advice by reinforcing their delusions.

In the summer of 2025, OpenAI released ChatGPT 5 and removed its predecessor from the market. Many subscribers to the old model had become attached to its warm, enthusiastically agreeable tone and complained at the loss of their ingratiating robotic companion.