FTC launces inquiry into AI chatbots acting as companions and their effects on children

The Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into several social media and artificial intelligence companies about the potential harm to children and teenagers who use their AI chatbots as companions.

The FTC said Thursday it has sent letters to Google parent Alphabet, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms, Snap, Character Technologies, ChatGPT maker OpenAI and xAI.

The FTC said it wants 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…