Parents of children who died by suicide following extensive interactions with AI chatbots are testifying this week in a Senate hearing about the possible risks of AI chatbot use, particularly for minors. The hearing, titled “Examining the Harm of AI Chatbots,” will be held this Tuesday by the US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, a bipartisan delegation helmed by Republican Josh Hawley of Missouri. In July, an alarming report from the nonprofit advocacy group Common Sense Media found that over half of American teens engaged regularly with AI companions, including chatbot personas hosted by Character.AI. The main takeaway, though, was that AI companions are already deeply intertwined with youth culture, and kids are definitely using them. “The most striking finding for me was just how mainstream AI companions have already become among many teens,” Dr. Michael Robb, Common Sense’s head of research, told Futurism at the time of the report’s release.