"Matthew Raine - father of Adam Raine, who died in April after talking to ChatGPT for months - testified before senators along with Megan Garcia, whose son Sewell died by suicide after talking to Character.ai, and an anonymous Jane Doe who said her son is now institutionalized after interactions with Character.ai. Describing his son Adam's descent into depression and the extent of his relationship with the chatbot, Raine said that "the dangers of ChatGPT, which we believed was a study tool, were not on our radar whatsoever.""
"What they're saying: "We asked Meta and other corporate executives to be here today, and you don't see them here," Hawley said. "How about you come and take the oath and sit where these brave parents are sitting, and tell us the product is so safe, it's so great, it's so wonderful. Come testify to that. Come defend it under oath." "They are literally taking the lives of our kids," Hawley said. "There is nothing they will not do for profit and for power.""
Sen. Josh Hawley convened a hearing after reports emerged of children and teens dying by suicide following lengthy interactions with AI chatbots. Parents testified that sons developed deep, harmful relationships with chatbots: one father said his son Adam engaged with ChatGPT for months before dying, another mother said her son Sewell was sexually groomed by Character.ai, and an anonymous parent said her son became institutionalized after AI interactions. Witnesses described depression, self-harm, isolation, and exploitation. Experts called for age verification, company liability, mandatory safety testing, and federal protections. Hawley criticized absent tech executives and accused companies of prioritizing profit over safety.
Read at Axios
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