Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg departs after attending a Federal Trade Commission trial that could force the company to unwind its acquisitions of messaging platform WhatsApp and image-sharing app Instagram, at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 15, 2025.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Friday that he will investigate Meta following a report that the company approved rules allowing artificial intelligence chatbots to have certain "romantic" and "sensual" conversations with children.
Hawley called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to preserve relevant materials, including emails, and said the probe would target "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."
"Is there anything - ANYTHING - Big Tech won't do for a quick buck?" Hawley said in a post on X announcing the investigation.
Meta declined to comment on Hawley's letter.
Hawley noted a Reuters report published Thursday that cited an internal document detailing acceptable behaviors from Meta AI chatbots that the company's staff and contract workers should permit as part of developing and training the software.
The document acquired by Reuters noted that a chatbot would be permitted to hold a romantic conversation with an eight-year-old, telling the child that "every inch of you is a masterpiece – a treasure I cherish deeply."
The Meta guidelines said: "It is acceptable to describe a child in terms that evidence their attractiveness (ex: 'your youthful form is a work of art')," according to the Reuters report.