Attorney General Brenna Bird Demands Companies End Predatory AI Interactions with Kids

DES MOINES— Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird today joined a bipartisan coalition of 44 state attorneys general warning major artificial intelligence 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 eight. The letter also cites cases where other chatbots have allegedly encouraged harmful behavior in teenagers, including suicide and murder. 

“Sexualizing children is never okay,” said Attorney General Bird. “Just as it is wrong for an adult to have sexually inappropriate conversations with kids, it is equally wrong for AI companies to generate virtual conversations of that nature. As both a mom and a prosecutor, I know how important it is to protect kids from harmful, sexually inappropriate content. Artificial intelligence developers have a responsibility to ensure their products are safe for young users.”  

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. AI companies must “see children through the eyes of a parent, not the eyes of a predator.” 

Attorneys General Jonathan Skrmetti of Tennessee, Kwame Raoul of Illinois, Josh Stein of North Carolina, and Alan Wilson of South Carolina co-sponsored the letter. The attorneys general of the following states and territories joined as signatories: Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, 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. 

Read the full letter here.  

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For More Information:

Jen Green 

jen.green@ag.iowa.gov