Murmurs: Lawmakers Look to Regulate AI Companions

LAWMAKERS LOOK TO REGULATE AI COMPANIONS: Operators of artificial intelligence chatbots would have to refer suicidal users to a crisis hotline, and clearly tell users that they are talking to software—not a human—under a bill that has been moving through Salem in recent weeks. The proposal, part of a broader AI regulatory bill that looks to establish guardrails for an emerging technology, comes as experts sound louder alarms about the way sycophantic chatbots and other AI tools manipulate people they interact with by design, the idea being to hook users and extract their monetizable personal data. AI companions would face additional regulations when they interact with minors. Research presented to lawmakers suggests more than half of adolescents use AI regularly, and experts say the technology’s risks go well beyond the now-familiar addictive perils of social media. “Over the past decade, we learned how social media captured human attention,” researcher Dr. Mandy McLean told lawmakers. “AI systems do something more fundamental. They engage the human attachment system.” The Oregon bill, which has passed the Senate and now awaits a vote in the House, would establish a set of new regulations for companies creating AI companions—a category that could range from chatbots to hardware with an AI software component. (“Imagine for a moment if your 5-year-old’s favorite character or teddy bear talked to them, knew their name, and told them what to do,” Dr. Mitch Prinstein, senior science adviser for the American Psychological Association, told an Oregon Senate committee early this month.) After the presentation, Sen. Lisa Reynolds (D-Portland), a sponsor of the AI bill, said, “Well, I think we’re all pretty much horrified here.”

NONPROFIT’S BAR TABS MAY HAVE VIOLATED COUNTY RULES: Buried in a whistleblower’s 22-page complaint against Sunstone Way are details about bar tabs that could bring scrutiny by one of the nonprofit shelter provider’s largest customers: Multnomah County’s Department of Homeless Services. Kate Fulton, the former director of finance who says she was terminated for raising questions about Sunstone Way’s accounting, describes two routine credit card alerts she got on Feb. 21, 2025. The first came at 4:01 pm: $46 from Paddy’s Bar & Grill, a watering hole near Sunstone Way headquarters. The second one, for $211, came at 7:40 pm, she alleges. Both were charges made by Sunstone Way CEO Andy Goebels, according to her complaint, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Feb. 12 and first reported by WW. If those tabs included alcohol, and if they weren’t reimbursed later out of personal funds, Sunstone Way ran afoul of Multnomah County contracting rules. “Alcohol is not an eligible expense for Homeless Services Department funding,” a county spokeswoman said in an email. Sunstone Way’s employee handbook, obtained by WW, also prohibits charging alcohol to the nonprofit. Despite those rules, three former Sunstone Way employees, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say the nonprofit has a boozy culture. Those employees say Sunstone Way brass held a weekly “Thirsty Thursday” gathering, first at Crush Bar in Southeast Portland when Sunstone Way was based there, and later at Paddy’s after the nonprofit moved downtown. Sunstone Way spokeswoman Devon Hoyt didn’t return emails seeking comment on the matter.

HIGH SCHOOL GRADS STILL NOT PREPARED: Portland Public Schools’ postsecondary readiness rate, a measure of how prepared graduates will be in college or the workforce after high school, continues to lag behind the district’s high school graduation rate. For the class of 2025, PPS posted an 82.5% graduation rate and a 71.7% postsecondary readiness rate. (In order to be considered ready, students must pass a number of advanced courses, demonstrate success on a standardized test, or complete a career and technical education pathway, among other options.) PPS saw a slight uptick in readiness for the class of 2025; in 2024, it posted a 69.1% readiness rate. But the gap between graduation and readiness raises additional questions about what an Oregon diploma really means. High graduation rates in the state have long been an outlier to otherwise sobering data around student proficiency and absenteeism. In late January, Oregon Department of Education director Dr. Charlene Williams said she was not familiar with the postsecondary readiness measure, but added that grade point average was a “reliable indicator” of success after high school.

ROD MONROE DIES AT 83: Former state Sen. Rod Monroe (D-East Portland) died Feb. 20 at age 83, according to his wife and longtime legislative aide, Billie Monroe. Monroe first won election to the Oregon House in 1976 and, in a varied political career that lasted until 2019, he served on the David Douglas School Board, Mt. Hood Community College Board, and the Metro Regional Council in addition to five terms in the state Senate. A schoolteacher and physical fitness buff who ran more than 20 marathons and calculated he’d run enough miles to circle the globe, Monroe left a mark on Oregon that reflected his focus on public health. In addition to numerous other laws, he sponsored Oregon’s indoor smoking ban in 1981 and, for many years, pushed a mandatory seat belt law, which eventually passed on the ballot in 1990. Monroe lost his Senate seat in the 2018 Democratic primary to Shemia Fagan (who later became secretary of state). Senate Majority Leader Kayse Jama, who now holds Monroe’s old seat, finished third in that race but, in a Feb. 23 Senate floor speech, recalled how courteous and respectful Monroe was, even in a bitter primary contest. “After we debated,” Jama said, “he even offered me some tips.” Monroe is survived by his wife, Billie, and their son, Marty.