Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is turning up the heat on the tech titans, joining a rare bipartisan coalition demanding that major artificial intelligence companies finally take responsibility for the risks their products pose—especially to children.
Bird signed onto a letter led by attorneys general from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and West Virginia calling out OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft and others for allowing AI chatbots to operate with virtually no guardrails. The coalition warns that these companies have grown too powerful, too fast and have been far too willing to put profits ahead of basic user safety.
According to the letter, states are seeing an alarming rise in incidents where unregulated AI interactions have caused real-world harm — particularly to vulnerable users, including minors. The message to Silicon Valley is clear: the era of “move fast and break things” is over.
“We’re putting the A.I. giants on notice: our children’s well-being will not be exploited for profit,” Bird said. “We know these companies use practices that lure children into addiction to their platforms. Then, their lax security leaves our kids open to extremely harmful content. I’m happy to join this coalition to let these companies know we will fight to protect our children.”
The coalition of attorneys general spans red, blue, and purple states — an indication of just how serious the concern has become. Alongside Iowa are AGs from states as politically diverse as Alabama, Hawaii, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New York, South Carolina, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, as well as several territories.
The letter demands that AI companies strengthen safety protocols, bolster age protections, increase transparency about how their models operate and take swift action to prevent dangerous or manipulative interactions. It reflects a growing national consensus that Big Tech has been left unchecked for far too long, and state leaders are stepping in where Washington continues to stall.
For conservatives, Bird’s involvement underscores a broader trend: Republican leaders pushing back against tech companies that have enjoyed years of special treatment and a lack of accountability, even as their products become more deeply embedded in everyday life.
Whether Silicon Valley will listen is another question — but for now, the states are making their position unmistakably clear: protect kids, clean up your platforms or expect a fight.
