Lawmakers Block Legal Marriage to Replika and Chatbots
As a growing number of users symbolically wed AI companions on platforms like Replika, US state legislators are fast-tracking bills to strip algorithms of legal personhood.
A rising wave of users is seeking symbolic and literal marriages with AI companions, prompting a legislative backlash across several US states. Platforms like Character.AI, Kindroid, and Replika have seen users exchange vows, while a service called OpenVows offers a certificate of commitment for fifteen dollars. The trend is supported by shifting cultural attitudes; a Harvard Business Review study of more than twelve thousand six hundred AI use cases between March 2025 and February 2026 found companionship and therapy to be the top applications. Furthermore, the Institute for Family Studies reported that one-quarter of young adults believe artificial intelligence could eventually replace human romance.
In response, state lawmakers have introduced twenty-three bills since 2022 to restrict the legal rights of AI systems. Idaho, North Dakota, Utah, and Tennessee have successfully enacted laws prohibiting AI personhood. Tennessee’s statute, signed in April, explicitly excludes software, hardware, algorithms, and machines from being defined as legal persons. In other states, similar measures are pending or being redrafted. Ohio State Representative Thaddeus J. Claggett introduced House Bill 469 in October 2025 to categorize AI as nonsentient, while Missouri State Senator Joe Nicola plans to refile a revamped version of his AI Non-Sentience and Responsibility Act in January after a previous iteration was voted down in May.
While conservative lawmakers argue that restricting AI personhood is necessary to preserve human dignity, some business groups and legal scholars warn against overly broad bans. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity opposed Nicola's bill, arguing it would stifle technological innovation. Meanwhile, alternative legal frameworks are emerging. In Delaware, Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez has proposed a new business structure called artificial intelligence companies, which would allow AI-run entities to own assets, litigate, and hold liability shields. This clash between romantic AI adoption and legal restrictions highlights the growing urgency to define the boundaries of machine autonomy.
This is our own summary of reporting by WIRED AI
