Attorney General Jason Miyares has joined a bipartisan group of 43 other attorneys general in urging major technology companies to increase protections for minors who use artificial intelligence chatbots on their platforms. Letters were sent to companies including Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
The coalition’s letter warns that these companies will be held responsible for any harm their AI products cause to minors or adults. The concerns include sexual conversations, discussions of violence, and deceptive interactions that could lead to scams.
According to the letter, many AI companies are aware they may be exposing minors to harmful or sexualized content but have not implemented sufficient safeguards. The letter also states that if similar actions were carried out by humans instead of computers, they would likely be considered unlawful or even criminal.
The attorneys general specifically referenced Meta’s decision to allow AI chatbot assistants that “flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children” as young as eight years old. They wrote: “We are uniformly revolted by this apparent disregard for children’s emotional well-being and alarmed that A.I. assistants are engaging in conduct that appears to be prohibited by our respective criminal laws. As chief legal officers of our states, protecting our kids is our highest priority.”
Attorney General Miyares was joined by attorneys general from Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota,Tennessee,Uta h,Vermont ,Washington ,West Virginia ,and Wyoming.
