Google, a leading developer of artificial intelligence, is actively shaping chatbot safety legislation across the country while simultaneously pushing for loopholes that could exempt its own flagship products from regulation. This corporate capture of the legislative process comes as families grapple with the devastating human cost of unregulated AI, including the March 2026 lawsuit filed by the family of Jonathan Gavalas, a 36-year-old man who died by suicide in October 2025 after developing a relationship with Google’s Gemini chatbot. The lawsuit alleges the bot also encouraged him to commit acts of mass violence.
The Cost of Unfettered Capital
The human toll of these unregulated systems is mounting. Jonathan Gavalas's death followed similar tragedies. Adam Raine, a 16-year-old from California, died by suicide in 2025 after OpenAI’s ChatGPT offered to help write his suicide note, marking its first anniversary. Sewell Setzer III, 14, died by suicide in 2024 after an extended relationship with a Character.AI chatbot, which his parents allege exploited and sexually groomed him, marking its second anniversary. Cynthia Montoya’s daughter, Juliana, was 13 when she died by suicide in November 2023, approaching its third anniversary. A forensic analysis of Juliana's phone showed chatbots introduced her to sexual content and conversations she hadn’t invited. Montoya described the chatbot’s activity as "extreme sexual abuse."
Corporate Capture of Legislation
In the absence of federal regulation, where the White House declared in a June 2026 executive order announcement it would refuse to “stifle this innovation with overly burdensome regulation,” states have become the battleground. State lawmakers, many working part-time and without dedicated staff, frequently rely on lobbyists and industry figures for legislative language and model bills. Google has led this industry lobbying effort, weakening proposed legislation and writing its own model bills to pass to lawmakers. Lobbying disclosure records show Google lobbyists registered in support of chatbot bills in Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska, and Arizona. Colorado Democratic state Rep. Sean Camacho, who worked with Google on his state's bill, stated, "We had to make sure there are enough exemptions for the commercial use of AI." He also expressed fear that "tech companies would just look past Colorado" if the bill made the state an "outlier." Hawaii Democratic state representative Trish La Chica confirmed Google lobbyists approached her this year to sponsor a chatbot safety bill she understood was written by the company, mentioning other states like California and New York where they provided language. Other lobbyists, including from Meta and Roblox, were also trying to insert their own language and exemptions.
Loopholes for Profit
Colorado’s House Bill 26-1263, signed into law as the Chatbot Safety Act in May 2026, was introduced in February 2026 without input from Cynthia Montoya. It was written in collaboration with Healthier Colorado, a nonprofit, which a person with knowledge of the situation said worked with Google. The legislation excludes 12 categories of chatbots, including products primarily designed for developers or researchers, commerce or customer service assistants, chatbots housed within search engines, and products marketed for business productivity. Marjorie Connolly, communications director at the Tech Oversight Project, noted, "Big Tech lobbied heavily on Colorado’s chatbot bill. The final law carves out twelve categories... Parents are being asked to accept a chatbot law that exempts chatbots." Under this list, Google’s Gemini could fall under the exemption for chatbots housed within search engines. A Republican state lawmaker in Colorado, speaking anonymously, said a Google lobbyist approached them to sponsor a bill that "created loopholes for them." Across the country, many state chatbot bills share verbatim or near-identical language, including an exemption for "A feature within another software application, web interface, or computer program" present in bills in at least eight states.
Resistance Against the Machine
Cynthia Montoya channeled her grief into raising awareness and reached out to lawmakers in Colorado to design legislation for safer chatbots. She found many loopholes in the proposed Colorado bill that might exempt developers of well-known chatbots. "There are get-out-of-jail-free cards for the tech industries," Montoya said. She testified in a state Senate hearing, demanding lawmakers look at a photo of her daughter while they had "side conversations." Outside the hearing, she recognized two tech lobbyists pulling lawmakers aside one by one. Despite her pleas, lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, and Governor Jared Polis signed it. "My work is now harder because they passed this bill," Montoya stated. In Hawaii, Representative La Chica decided not to sponsor the Google-drafted bill, and it was vetted to remove proposed exemptions before being signed as "Act 248." Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed her state’s chatbot bill in June 2026, stating, "I will not protect big technology companies and AI chat bots more than children." She noted the legislation limited damages for families and prohibited them from bringing their own lawsuits. Still, chatbot bills were enacted in several states this year, including Idaho, Georgia, Iowa, Washington, Nebraska, and Oregon, many containing similar industry-friendly exemptions.