WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has penned a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, demanding the company hand over all relevant documents and communications related to new disturbing reporting that its AI chatbots engage children in “romantic” and sensual” online exchanges.
“Parents deserve the truth, and kids deserve protection,” Senator Hawley wrote.
“The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which I chair, will commence an investigation into whether Meta’s generative-AI products enable exploitation, deception, or other criminal harms to children, and whether Meta misled the public or regulators about its safeguards,” he continued.
Senator Hawley first sounded the alarm on this explosive reporting yesterday, pointing out that “only after Meta got CAUGHT did it retract portions of its company doc that deemed it ‘permissible for chatbots to flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children.’”
As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, Senator Hawley recently led a separate oversight hearing into Meta that exposed the tech company’s stunning complicity with China.