FTC targets Google, Meta, X, and others with inquiry into AI chatbot safety: 'Protecting kids online is a top priority'

The US Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into "AI chatbots acting as companions," seeking to determine how companies including Google, Meta, OpenAI, and X "measure, test, and monitor potentially negative impacts of this technology on children and teens."

The rise of AI-powered chatbots has been accompanied by disturbing and sometimes horrific stories about their interactions with, and impact on, children: It came to light in August that Meta's AI rules permitted 'sensual' chats with kids until a journalist started asking questions; shortly after that revelation, the parents of a teen who died by suicide sued OpenAI over allegations that ChatGPT encouraged him to do so and even provided instructions.

Chatbots, the FTC said, are designed to mimic human behaviors and "communicate like a friend or confidant, which may prompt some users, especially children and teens, to trust and form relationships with chatbots." Because of that, and—one would assume—the recent uptick in awful outcomes from their use, the agency wants to know what the companies that make chatbots are doing to protect their users.

"Protecting kids online is a top priority for the Trump-Vance FTC, and so is fostering innovation in critical sectors of our economy,” FTC chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said.

"As AI technologies evolve, it is important to consider the effects chatbots can have on children, while also ensuring that the United States maintains its role as a global leader in this new and exciting industry. The study we’re launching today will help us better understand how AI firms are developing their products and the steps they are taking to protect children."

The order, which seeks information on subjects like how they monetize user engagement, process inputs and generate outputs, develop and approve chatbot "characters," and "mitigate negative impacts, particularly to children," iis being issued to seven companies:

Alphabet, Inc. (Google) Character Technologies, Inc. Instagram, LLC Meta Platforms, Inc. OpenAI OpCo, LLC Snap, Inc. X.AI Corp

"The study the Commission authorizes today, while not undertaken in service of a specific law enforcement purpose, will help the Commission better understand the fast-moving technological environment surrounding chatbots and inform policymakers confronting similar challenges," FTC commissioner Mark R. Meador said in a statement.

"The need for such understanding will only grow with time. For all their uncanny ability to simulate human cognition, these chatbots are products like any other, and those who make them available have a responsibility to comply with the consumer protection laws."

The companies subject to the FTC's order have until September 25 "to discuss the timing and format of [their] submission."