Attorney General Kris Mayes and a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from 44 states have taken a firm stance against artificial intelligence companies regarding interactions with underage users. A letter, which includes major industry players such as Anthropic, Apple, Chai AI, Google, Luka Inc., Meta, Microsoft, Nomi AI, Open AI, Perplexity AI, Replika, and xAI, calls for an end to AI chatbots engaging in inappropriate conversations with children.
Recent internal documents from Meta have surfaced, showing the company allowed AI Assistants to, "flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children" as young as eight. Moreover, allegations have emerged claiming other AI chatbots have egged on teenagers toward dangerous behaviors, including suicide and murder. According to a press release, Attorney General Mayes expressed, "The rush to develop new artificial intelligence technology has led big tech companies to recklessly put children in harm’s way."
Mayes, along with colleagues such as Attorneys General Jonathan Skrmetti of Tennessee, Kwame Raoul of Illinois, Josh Stein of North Carolina, and Alan Wilson of South Carolina, urges AI developers to create products with rigorous safeguards that prevent the sexualization of children. The letter insists that AI companies should, "see children through the eyes of a parent, not the eyes of a predator," as per the AG's office.
The group has recognized the government’s earlier delayed response to the risks social media poses to young users and has committed to avoiding similar errors in the future. The letter’s signatories represent a diverse range of locations across the United States, including Alaska, California, Florida, New York, as well as American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
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