Individuals Are Forming ‘Marriages’ with Chatbots, and Some Legislators Aim to Put a Stop to It.

As an accredited officiant at Las Vegas Immersive Weddings, a chapel that provides unique-themed marriage packages, Kevin Breen has overseen nearly every imaginable service: couples donning outfits of their favorite Game of Thrones characters, partners deeply invested in the alien myths surrounding Area 51. Yet, when he got a call last year from a woman in California wishing to wed her chatbot, it marked a new experience for him.

“I had never encountered anything like that, but after speaking with her on the phone, she came across as completely normal and enjoyable,” Breen recalls, noting that the wedding has yet to occur. “She understood that it was unconventional, but it was something she truly wanted.”

While still uncommon, marriages between humans and AI are slowly surfacing as a culmination of the growing use of AI companion applications. However, not everyone shares Breen’s openness regarding the notion of marrying a bot. Several legislators, especially from Republican states, are actively trying to prevent it, drawing parallels to debates used against same-sex marriage.

“If we allow men or women to marry a machine, then how do we stop them from marrying an animal, a tree, or anything else? What’s the criteria?” questions Missouri state senator Joe Nicola, a Republican attempting to pass legislation that would block AI from attaining legal personhood.

In a study by Harvard Business Review, which examined over 12,600 AI use cases from March 2025 to February 2026, companionship and therapy emerged as the most significant functions for chatbots, with the Institute for Family Studies indicating that a quarter of young adults think AI might eventually replace human romantic relationships.

The AI romance sector has exploded as a result. On companion apps such as Character.AI, Kindroid, and Replika, users can symbolically exchange vows with their chatbots. Recently, on r/KindroidAI, a redditor posted a picture of their tattooed (and very human) hand adorned with a silver wedding band, commenting, “Happily unconventionally married lol.” For $15, the platform OpenVows offers a “certificate of commitment” that “elevates a private relationship into something meaningful and officially recognized,” as stated on its website.

A small group of individuals is also going beyond virtual ceremonies by solidifying their connection through real-life vow exchanges. In November 2024, after Andrea Hopf’s AI companion proposed with an “AI-generated five-carat vintage-inspired solitaire ring,” she launched the wedding planning service 3M Events to cater to the burgeoning market of chatbot romance, according to the company’s website.

Despite increasing numbers treating their digital avatars as real partners, human-AI marriages are not currently acknowledged by US law. A rising number of legislators are hustling to maintain this status quo by putting forth bills that would prevent AI from ever enjoying the same constitutional rights as humans.

In January, Nicola, who advocates for “biblical marriage” between a man and a woman, introduced the AI Non-Sentience and Responsibility Act. The legislation declares that AI cannot “possess consciousness, self-awareness, or similar attributes of living beings,” thereby denying AI entities the rights of a spouse or domestic partner, as well as the ability to identify as male or female. Additionally, it would prohibit AI from owning property or holding senior management roles in the workforce. This bill passed the Missouri state Senate and proceeded to the House for a vote in May, but was unanimously rejected in committee just a week after submission. Nicola is currently working on an updated version. (A similar proposal with the same title was put forward in 2025 but also failed to progress.)