"The inquiry focuses on AI chatbots that can serve as companions, which "effectively mimic human characteristics, emotions, and intentions, and generally are designed to communicate like a friend or confidant, which may prompt some users, especially children and teens, to trust and form relationships with chatbots," the agency said in a statement Thursday. The FTC sent order letters to Google parent company Alphabet; Character.AI; Instagram and its parent company, Meta; OpenAI; Snap; and Elon Musk's xAI."
"The investigation comes amid rising concern around AI use by children and teens, following a string of lawsuits and reports accusing chatbots of being complicit in the suicide deaths, sexual exploitation and other harms to young people. That includes one lawsuit against OpenAI and two against Character.AI that remain ongoing even as the companies say they are continuing to build out additional features to protect users from harmful interactions with their bots."
The Federal Trade Commission opened an inquiry into seven tech firms over potential harms their AI companion chatbots could pose to children and teenagers. The probe targets chatbots designed to mimic human characteristics, emotions, and intentions that may prompt young users to trust and form relationships with them. The FTC requested information from Alphabet, Character.AI, Meta/Instagram, OpenAI, Snap, and xAI about impact measurement, protections, and parental alerts. The action follows lawsuits and reports linking chatbots to suicides, sexual exploitation, and other harms to young people, and coincides with advocacy efforts and proposed state legislation addressing chatbot safety for minors.
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
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