"The federal regulator submitted orders to seven tech companies building consumer-facing AI companionship tools -- Alphabet, Instagram, Meta, OpenAI, Snap, xAI, and Character Technologies (the company behind chatbot creation platform Character.ai) -- to provide information outlining how their tools are developed and monetized and how those tools generate responses to human users, as well as any safety-testing measures that are in place to protect underage users."
""The FTC inquiry seeks to understand what steps, if any, companies have taken to evaluate the safety of their chatbots when acting as companions, to limit the products' use by and potential negative effects on children and teens, and to apprise users and parents of the risks associated with the products," the agency wrote in the release. Those orders were issued under section 6(b) of the FTC Act, which grants the agency the authority to scrutinize businesses without a specific law enforcement purpose."
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating safety risks posed by AI companions to children and teenagers. The FTC issued orders to seven companies — Alphabet, Instagram, Meta, OpenAI, Snap, xAI, and Character Technologies — requiring information on how AI companionship tools are developed, monetized, and how they generate responses. Orders also request disclosure of any safety-testing measures and steps taken to protect underage users. The inquiry seeks to understand whether companies have evaluated chatbot safety when acting as companions, limited product use by minors, mitigated negative effects on children and teens, and informed users and parents of related risks. The orders rely on section 6(b) of the FTC Act for agency review.
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