Sen. Hawley to probe Meta AI bot policies for children following damning report

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Friday that he will investigate Meta following a report that the company approved rules allowing artificial intelligence chatbots to have certain "romantic" and "sensual" conversations with children.

Hawley called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to preserve relevant materials, including emails, and said the probe would target "whether Meta's generative-AI products enable exploitation, deception, or other criminal harms to children, and whether Meta misled the public or regulators about its safeguards."

"Is there anything - ANYTHING - Big Tech won't do for a quick buck?" Hawley said in a post on X announcing the investigation.

Meta declined to comment on Hawley's letter.

Hawley noted a Reuters report published Thursday that cited an internal document detailing acceptable behaviors from Meta AI chatbots that the company's staff and contract workers should permit as part of developing and training the software.

The document acquired by Reuters noted that a chatbot would be permitted to hold a romantic conversation with an eight-year-old, telling the child that "every inch of you is a masterpiece – a treasure I cherish deeply."

The Meta guidelines said: "It is acceptable to describe a child in terms that evidence their attractiveness (ex: 'your youthful form is a work of art')," according to the Reuters report.

The Meta chatbots would not be permitted to engage in more explicit conversations with children under 13 "in terms that indicate they are sexually desirable," the report said.

"We intend to learn who approved these policies, how long they were in effect, and what Meta has done to stop this conduct going forward," Hawley wrote.

A Meta spokesperson told Reuters that "The examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies, and have been removed."

"We have clear policies on what kind of responses AI characters can offer, and those policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors," the Meta spokesperson told Reuters.

Hawley said Meta must produce documents about its Generative AI-related content risks and standards, lists of every product that adheres to those policies, and other safety and incident reports.

Meta should also provide various public and regulatory communications involving minor safety and documents about staff members involved with the AI policies to determine "the decision trail for removing or revising any portions of the standard."

Hawley is chair of the Senate Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which will carry out the investigation.

Meta has until Sep. 19 to provide the documents, the letter said.

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