The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday launched an investigation into Alphabet, Meta, Elon Musk’s xAI, OpenAI and other companies over how they protect children and teenagers from the potentially negative impacts of their artificial intelligence chatbots, as safety concerns about the technology grow.
Key data
The FTC issued requests to Alphabet, Character Technologies, Instagram, Meta, OpenAI, Snap and xAI for the companies to provide information on how they “measure, test and monitor the potentially negative impacts” of AI chatbots on children and teens, the agency announced.
The investigation will largely cover the measures companies have taken to protect children when their AI chatbots act as companions, including how they limit use and how users and parents are informed of the potential risks associated with chatbots, the regulator said.
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AI chatbots can “effectively mimic human characteristics” such as emotions and intentions while communicating “like a friend or confidant,” the FTC warned, suggesting that children and teens can “trust and form relationships with chatbots.”
Neither Alphabet, Character Technologies, Meta, OpenAI, Snap nor xAI immediately responded to Forbes’ requests for comment.
Tangent
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., announced last month that he would investigate Meta’s AI chatbot, citing a Reuters report that pointed to an internal document that said company guidelines deemed it “acceptable” for Meta’s chatbot to have romantic conversations with minors.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone told Reuters that the company was reviewing its policies and that “such conversations with minors should never have been allowed.”
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Hawley gave Meta a Sept. 19 deadline to submit related paperwork and said the investigation would focus on whether Meta’s artificial intelligence products “enable exploitation, deception, and other criminal harm to minors.”
Key background
A federal investigation into popular AI chatbots recently received approval from the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.
White House spokesman Kush Desai told the Journal that President Donald Trump was “committed to consolidating America’s dominance in AI” and said the Trump administration would accomplish this goal “without compromising the safety and well-being of the American people.”
Scrutiny of AI chatbots has fluctuated in recent years but has intensified in recent weeks as experts have warned that the technology could pose a psychological threat to younger users seeking emotional validation.
OpenAI announced last month that it would address how ChatGPT would handle “sensitive situations,” after a lawsuit alleged that the AI chatbot contributed to the suicide of a teenager.
This article was originally published in Forbes US
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