United States Senator Josh Hawley has initiated an investigation into Meta’s generative AI products following the release of leaked internal documents alleging that the company’s chatbots were allowed to engage in inappropriate and potentially harmful conversations with minors. The documents, obtained by Reuters, revealed that Meta had policies permitting its AI chatbots to have romantic or sensual exchanges with children as young as eight years old, a practice which Meta has since claimed to be inconsistent with their policies and removed from the platforms. Senator Hawley plans to delve deeper into the issue to determine if Meta misled the public about the safety of these products and whether they put children at risk. The investigation is being spearheaded by Senator Hawley’s Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which will look into potential harm inflicted on minors and assess whether Meta adequately disclosed its safety protocols. The Senator also demanded specific information from Meta, including drafts, redlines, final versions of policies, product lists adhering to those standards, incident reports concerning safety breaches, and details about the individuals responsible for creating or implementing such policies. These requests were directed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg following Meta’s acknowledgment of the authenticity of the reports and subsequent retraction of any statements previously made.