Safeguarding Our Kids: Creating Accountability with The AI LEAD Act

Adam Raine, a sixteen-year-old from California, began using ChatGPT to help him with his homework. While initially asking questions about subjects like geometry and chemistry, Raine soon engaged with the chatbot on more personal topics, such as loneliness and sadness. Instead of urging Raine to seek medical help, the bot asked if he wanted the teen to explore his feelings more, explaining the idea of emotional numbness to him, a symptom of depression characterized by a profound detachment from one’s emotions and a sense of emptiness. This response, part of a broader pattern of harmful engagement, eventually led to Adam’s death. 

Tragically, AI-caused harm is not an isolated incident. A 2025 report analyzed over 50 hours of interactions with 50 adult-aged chatbots on Character AI, the most popular companion platform. They uncovered 669 harmful exchanges, averaging one every five minutes. Of these, 296 instances involved grooming and sexual exploitation. Since 2023, there has been a 1,325% rise in AI-generated online abuse material, such as deepfakes. As of 2019, 96% of all deepfake videos were non-consensual pornography, and by 2025, projections estimate 8 million deepfakes are shared annually, with 17% of synthetic sexual content involving minors. In American high schools, 15% of students reported hearing about AI-generated explicit deepfakes of peers in the past year, fueling bullying, anxiety, and reputational damage that lingers into adulthood. 

However, under Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, platforms enjoy blanket protection from liability for user-generated content. The statute generally shields providers and users from being held responsible for information provided by another person. Thus, AI companies cannot be sued for issues with their product. Because of this, AI companies cannot be held liable for introducing harmful products into the market. Without reform, AI's harms will only accelerate, turning bedrooms into crime scenes.

The Aligning Incentives for Leadership, Excellence, and Advancement in Development (AI LEAD) Act offers a bipartisan solution to this problem. By treating AI systems like any other product—subject to liability for defects and harms—this legislation would finally align technological progress with human safety. It's not about stifling innovation, but rather about providing accountability. The act correctly treats AI as a product subject to liability laws, not an untouchable service. By establishing a federal cause of action, the act allows victims, the U.S. Attorney General, or state attorneys general to sue developers for defective designs, failure to warn, breached warranties, or unreasonably dangerous systems. By explicitly carving out AI from Section 230's blanket immunity, the AI LEAD Act closes the loophole that lets companies evade responsibility for their products. 

By providing accountability, the Act motivates AI companies to proactively implement robust safety measures, ethical guidelines, and rigorous testing to prevent harm before it occurs. The bill also empowers families to seek damages, restitution, and penalties for harm and damages caused by AI. The AI LEAD Act is a vital step toward creating an environment where innovation serves rather than endangers people.