Ali Naseem

Prepared for Boston Children's Hospital Digital Wellness Lab, this memo explains the regulatory landscape of AI and child tech products. Currently, the federal government has few regulations on the use of AI in child technology products. Lawsuits on AI chatbots, such as those involving Character AI, have made courts a regulator on AI and child tech products. In addition to lawsuits, state have proposed regulations for AI products, such as California’s LEAD for Kids Act. On a global level, entities, such as the European Union and the United Nations, also play a role in defining AI use with children.

Union power in the United States has eroded due to declining membership, widespread misclassification, and wage stagnation that disproportionately harms vulnerable workers. The PRO Act seeks to modernize labor protections by strengthening the right to organize, extending employee status through the ABC test, and enforcing meaningful penalties for employer violations. While these reforms aim to rebalance workplace power, concerns about economic strain, reduced worker flexibility, and disproportionate impacts on small businesses highlight the need for targeted, sector-specific adjustments.