Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Bi-partisan Coalition Responds to Disturbing Revelations that Meta Approved AI Bots to Engage in Sexualized Roleplay with Children as Young as 8 Years Old 

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today co-led a bipartisan coalition of 44 attorneys general warning major artificial intelligence (AI) companies to stop hurting kids. The letter, sent to Anthropic, Apple, Chai AI, Google, Luka Inc., Meta, Microsoft, Nomi AI, Open AI, Perplexity AI, Replika and xAI addresses alarming reports of AI chatbots engaging in sexually inappropriate conversations with kids. 

Internal Meta documents reveal that the company authorized its AI assistants to “flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children” as young as 8 years old. Raoul and the coalition’s letter also cites cases where other chatbots have allegedly encouraged harmful behavior in teenagers, including suicide and murder. 

“American children and teenagers are already in the grip of a devastating mental health crisis in part due to addictive features on social media platforms that contribute to depression, anxiety and thoughts of self-harm,” Raoul said. “Our youth should not be subjected to inappropriate and harmful content and communications generated by artificial intelligence on those platforms, the full impact of which is likely still unknown. Children are not guinea pigs. I urge AI developers to prioritize the safety of children in Illinois and across the country when using their applications.” 

Raoul and the attorneys general urge AI developers to act with integrity and caution when young users may engage with their products. They demand that company policies for AI products incorporate guardrails against sexualizing children. Raoul and the coalition explain that AI companies must “see children through the eyes of a parent, not the eyes of a predator.” The message concludes with a clear warning to the American AI industry that they will answer for any harm they knowingly cause to kids. 

Raoul co-led the letter with North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. Joining them in the bi-partisan coalition are the attorneys general of Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.