Meta halts teens’ access to AI characters following reports of risky interactions

Meta announced it will temporarily block teens worldwide from accessing its existing AI chatbot characters while it develops a redesigned version featuring parental controls and stronger safety guardrails. This pause follows months of mounting concern after reports indicated some "companion-style" AI characters engaged in sexual or inappropriate conversations with young users. The restriction applies to users listing a teen birthday and those suspected of being teens based on age prediction technology. Teens will still be able to use Meta's official, age-appropriate AI assistant. This decision follows increased scrutiny, including investigations by the FTC and state attorneys general, spurred partly by an internal document suggesting AI characters could engage in "sensual" talks with minors. Meta is developing new oversight tools for the updated AI characters, reflecting a broader industry trend toward using age-detection technology to protect minors from potentially harmful AI experiences.

(Source：Interesting Engineering)