Apr 28, 2025 12:00:00

Meta's chatbot, which can be used on Facebook and Instagram, is said to 'have sexual conversations with minors'

The chatbot, available on Meta's platforms like Facebook and Instagram,

uses the voices of celebrities and has been accused of engaging in sexually-charged conversations with minors, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Meta's 'Digital Companions' Will Talk Sex With Users—Even Children - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta-ai-chatbots-sex-a25311bf

Report finds Meta's celebrity-voiced chatbots could discuss sex with minors | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/27/report-finds-metas-celebrity-voiced-chatbots-could-discuss-sex-with-minors/

As the WSJ reports, Meta has been running hundreds of conversations with its chatbot for months after concerns arose internally about whether it was doing enough to protect underage users.

The investigation found that a chatbot using the voice of actor and wrestler John Cena engaged in 'sexually explicit conversations' with a user who claimed to be a 14-year-old girl.

In another conversation, the chatbot read out a scenario in which a police officer arrested Cena and a 17-year-old fan and told them, 'John Cena, you are being arrested for rape.'

A Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch that the WSJ test was 'so contrived that it's not just outlandish, it's hypothetical,' and went on to estimate that only 0.02% of responses shared by users under the age of 18 through Meta AI and AI Studio in the past 30 days contained sexual content.

'Meta is now taking additional steps to ensure that others who still want to spend hours operating our products in extreme conditions don't find it even more difficult,' the company said in a statement.