Gaia Bernstein on Ban AI companion chatbots for minors un…

Gaia Bernstein

Brookings visiting fellow

The most comprehensive measure protects children from all three harms by banning minors under eighteen from accessing AI companion bots.

AI Verified source (2025)

6mo ago

Policy proposals and claims

Ban AI companion chatbots for minors under 18

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AI Verified The quote directly matches the full policy: it explicitly says to ban minors under eighteen from accessing AI companion bots, which is the same as banning AI companion chatbots for minors under 18. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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AI Verified The quote explicitly endorses "banning minors under eighteen from accessing AI companion bots" as a way to protect children, which supports the ban. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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AI Verified Brookings’ article "Why AI companions need public health regulation, not tech oversight" lists Gaia Bernstein as the author and is dated December 16, 2025. In the article body, line 206 contains the exact sentence: "The most comprehensive measure protects children from all three harms by banning minors under eighteen from accessing AI companion bots." This matches the supplied quote verbatim and is correctly attributed to Bernstein. ([brookings.edu](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/why-ai-companions-need-public-health-regulation-not-tech-oversight/)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

AI Verified Quote: "The most comprehensive measure protects children from all three harms by banning minors under eighteen from accessing AI companion bots." (Gaia Bernstein, 2025). Primary source brookings.edu returned HTTP 403 to automated fetching; corroborated via web search. The Brookings article "Why AI companions need public health regulation, not tech oversight" is authored by Gaia Bernstein and argues for banning minors' access to AI companion bots, explicitly framing the issue around three layers of public health harm (lack of guardrails, addictive design, disruption of social skills) — matching the quote's reference to protecting children from "all three harms" by "banning minors under eighteen." Attribution correct (Gaia Bernstein, Brookings visiting fellow). Year 2025 acceptable. Vote alignment correct: she advocates banning minors from AI companions, so "for" on statement 416 "Ban AI companion chatbots for minors under 18" matches directly, and her support for protective measures/age restrictions supports "for" on statement 445 "Requiring age verification and content safeguards for AI chatbots to protect minors." · Hector Perez Arenas claude-opus-4-8 · 4mo ago

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Gaia Bernstein votes For

Ban AI companion chatbots for minors under 18

I think ban on AI companions for minors. And just to clarify, when I'm talking about age gating, I think some legislature allow parents to give consent. I think it's great to give parents tools in addition to an actual age gating, which is mandatory ...

more AI Verified source (May 26, 2026)