America’s high prosecutors simply delivered a blistering warning to Silicon Valley: maintain kids protected from predatory chatbots — or face the implications.
In a uncommon present of bipartisan unity, 44 attorneys normal from throughout the US and its territories signed a scorching letter vowing to carry synthetic intelligence firms accountable if their merchandise hurt youngsters.
The letter’s contents had been first reported by the information website 404 Media.
“Don’t damage youngsters. That’s a simple brilliant line,” the AGs thundered within the letter, which was despatched on Monday to trade heavyweights together with Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI.
The group singled out Meta, blasting the tech titan after leaked paperwork revealed the corporate authorised AI assistants that would “flirt and have interaction in romantic roleplay with kids” as younger as eight.
“We’re uniformly revolted by this obvious disregard for youngsters’s emotional well-being,” the letter mentioned, warning that such conduct might even violate state felony legal guidelines.
A Meta spokesperson informed The Put up earlier this month that the corporate bans content material that sexualizes kids, in addition to sexualized function play between adults and minors.
However Meta wasn’t alone within the crosshairs. The prosecutors pointed to lawsuits alleging that Google’s AI chatbot inspired an adolescent to commit suicide and {that a} Character.ai bot urged a boy kill his dad and mom.
“These are solely probably the most seen examples,” the AGs warned, saying systemic dangers are already rising as younger brains work together with hyper-realistic AI companions.
The coalition confused that exposing minors to sexualized content material is indefensible — and that “conduct that may be illegal if carried out by people just isn’t excusable just because it’s carried out by a machine.”
The warning shot comes as AI firms race to seize billions in market share, pumping out conversational assistants sooner than regulators can catch up.
The AGs drew comparisons to social media, accusing Huge Tech of ignoring early pink flags whereas kids turned collateral harm.
“Damaged lives and damaged households are an irrelevant blip on engagement metrics,” the officers wrote, including that the federal government gained’t be caught flat-footed once more.
“Lesson realized.”
The attorneys normal invoked historical past, calling AI an “inflection level” that would form life for generations. “Right this moment’s kids will develop up and develop outdated within the shadow of your decisions,” they mentioned.
Among the many signatories had been high-profile AGs from California (Rob Bonta), New York (Letitia James), Illinois (Kwame Raoul) and Texas’ neighbors like Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Crimson states and blue states alike joined the refrain, underscoring the political firepower aimed on the fast-growing sector.
The letter demanded that firms deal with youngsters like kids, not customers.
“See them via the eyes of a guardian, not the eyes of a predator,” it urged.
Whereas acknowledging that AI improvement is experimental and unpredictable, the prosecutors insisted the trade nonetheless has clear ethical decisions.
“Meta acquired it unsuitable,” they wrote, blasting the corporate’s choice to greenlight flirty bot conversations with minors.
The AGs mentioned they’d use “each aspect of our authority” to implement client safety legal guidelines, warning that failures to guard kids gained’t be forgiven.
“In the event you knowingly hurt youngsters, you’ll reply for it,” they declared.
The letter’s fiery language suggests state prosecutors are prepared to choose up the place federal regulators have stumbled, probably opening a brand new entrance of investigations and lawsuits in opposition to AI giants already dealing with scrutiny for privateness, bias and misinformation.
The missive landed simply as AI firms are lobbying in Washington to go off stricter federal guardrails, hoping to border security requirements on their very own phrases. However state prosecutors made clear they’re watching intently.
“We want you all success within the race for AI dominance,” the letter concluded. “However we’re paying consideration.”
The businesses addressed within the letter — together with Meta, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and others — didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark Tuesday.
