WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (TNSLrpt) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R49189) on Aug. 14, 2026, entitled "AI Chatbots as Companions: Overview, Uses and Considerations for Congress" by science and technology policy analyst Dominique T. Greene-Sanders. Here are excerpts: * * * SUMMARY A chatbot is an application or a program that simulates human conversation by generating responses to user prompts. Chatbots have existed for approximately 60 years. Technical advances in artificial intelligence (AI) allow chatbots more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (TNSLrpt) -- The Congressional Research Service issued the following report (No. R49189) on Aug. 14, 2026, entitled "AI Chatbots as Companions - Overview, Uses and Considerations for Congress:" (Continued fromPart 1 of 2) * * * Selected Issues: AI Chatbot Use As mentioned, much of what is known about AI chatbot interactions is from short-term studies or company disclosures. Some surveys indicate that the use of AI chatbots for companionship is becoming more prevalent,/71 particularly among teens./72 The widespread use of more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 -- The Democratic National Committee posted the following news release: * * * IN THE STATES: American Families Are Worse Off Under Donald Trump and Republicans' Failing Economy Thanks to Donald Trump and Republicans' costly agenda, millions of Americans are going into debt and cutting back to afford daily necessities. From Trump's disastrous tariffs and sweeping cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, to his deeply unpopular and reckless war with Iran, working families are seeing the cost of nearly everything soar -- and they're feeli more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * FACT SHEET: Republican Senate Candidates' Corruption Takes Center Stage in Battleground Races GOP Senate candidates are facing scrutiny over extensive lobbying ties and corporate conflicts, mired in corruption and ethics scandals, and caught red-handed in self-dealing Across key Senate battleground states, GOP Senate candidates have a corruption problem - with records chock-full of ethics scandals, conflicts of interest, insider lobb more PR

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 -- The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the following news release: * * * DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: Get Out of My Swamp, Sullivan is Ruined in Alaska, Crumbling Little Bigot Mike Collins, and All-Inclusive Ashley TGIF. Welcome back to Friday Takeaways from the DSCC - your weekly update from the DSCC Press Team on what you need to know across the Senate battlegrounds. There are 74 days until the midterms. DROP US A LINE: press@dscc.org. GET OUT OF MY SWAMP! Damning new reporting from HuffPost is exposing the " more PR