Hawley and Murphy plan bipartisan AI liability legislation

Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) plan to introduce legislation on AI liability. The core question is simple to ask and hard to answer. When an AI system hurts someone, who pays? What’s on the table The planned Hawley-Murphy bill lands on top of a stack of AI accountability proposals that Hawley has already helped push through the introduction stage. Two stand out. The first is the AI LEAD Act (S. 2937), which Hawley co-sponsored with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). It was introduced on September 29, 2025. Its central move is to classify AI systems as products under federal law. Victims would then be able to bring product liability claims against companies whose AI causes harm. The stated goal is to push developers toward safer design and deployment, since sloppy engineering would carry a real price tag. The bill has drawn endorsements from the American Association for Justice and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. The second proposal is the GUARD Act, introduced on October 28, 2025. It would ban AI companions for minors outright. It would also require chatbots to disclose that they are not human. It sets out strict new rules, including criminal penalties for co...