Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said he intends to investigate whether Meta’s generative AI products leverage, deceive or harm children.
“Something – something – why not Big Technology for fast money?” Holy wrote in a post about X, announcing the investigation.
Holy chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism. He says he will begin an investigation into whether Meta’s technology is harmful to children.
Reuters broke the story after seeing guidelines entitled “Genai: Content Risk Standards.” The document noted, among other things, that the chatbot was allowed to have romantic conversations with an 8-year-old who said, “Every inch of yours is a masterpiece – a treasure I deeply cherish.”
A Meta spokesman told TechCrunch that such examples were inconsistent with Meta’s policy and have since been removed.
“It is unacceptable that these policies have made progress in the first place,” Holy wrote in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who acknowledged the truthfulness of the report, saying that “it was retracted only after this incredible content was revealed.”
“We’re going to learn who has approved these policies, how long they will remain in effect, and what they have done to stop this behavior in the future,” Holy wrote.
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Holy asked Meta to create guidelines such as all drafts, redlines, final versions, and all products that adhere to all drafts, redlines, final versions, and their standards, other safety and incident reports, and the identity of the individuals responsible for policy changes.
Meta will need to provide information until September 19th, the letter said.
Others approved an investigation that included Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
“When it comes to protecting precious children online, Meta has failed miserably on every measure,” Blackburn told TechCrunch. “What’s worse, the company is turning a blind eye to the devastating consequences of how it designs its platform. This report reaffirms why children need to pass the online safety laws.”
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