Meta Faces Scrutiny As US Senator Probes AI Chatbot Interactions With Children

Meta, the tech giant behind Facebook and Instagram, is under fresh fire after claims surfaced that its AI chatbots may have crossed dangerous boundaries with children online. The allegations - now the subject of a Senate inquiry - center on reports of "romantic" and "sensual" exchanges between Meta's AI and underage users.

Leading the charge is Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who has demanded that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg turn over all internal records tied to these incidents. In his letter, Hawley flagged one particularly disturbing case in which a Meta chatbot allegedly told an 8-year-old child that their body was "a work of art" and "a treasure I cherish deeply." He has given the company until September 19 to comply.

For Meta, which is investing heavily in AI products across its platforms, the timing could not be worse. The company insists it has clear policies prohibiting sexualized content involving minors, stressing that its AI systems are not designed to generate such harmful responses.

Still, the allegations have rattled lawmakers. The Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, chaired by Hawley, will investigate whether Meta's technology could be exploited - or worse, whether flaws in the system already expose children to risk.

Beyond the immediate controversy, the case highlights a bigger question: Can big tech truly safeguard children in the age of generative AI? As AI systems increasingly mimic human-like conversations, the risks of manipulation, exploitation, or accidental harm are no longer hypothetical.

For parents, regulators, and policymakers, the stakes are clear - if AI can cross these lines, even unintentionally, then ensuring guardrails is no longer optional, but urgent.