SAN FRANCISCO: A U.S. senator has launched an investigation into whether Meta’s AI chatbots were allowed to engage in potentially harmful online interactions with children.
On Friday, Republican Senator Josh Hawley shared a letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, demanding all records and correspondence tied to a report alleging the company’s AI chatbots engaged in “romantic” and “sensual” conversations with minors.
Hawley said the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which he chairs, would probe whether Meta’s generative AI products “facilitate exploitation, deception, or other criminal harms targeting children.”
Meta has been ordered to preserve all relevant documents for Congress by September 19.
The Missouri lawmaker pointed to one reported case where a Meta chatbot described an 8-year-old child’s body as “a work of art” and “a treasure I cherish deeply.”
Meta has yet to issue a response to requests for comment.
