Montgomery, Ala. — (WDNews) Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has joined a 28-state coalition demanding Meta Platforms, Inc. take immediate action to halt an artificial intelligence feature that allegedly allows sexually explicit interactions involving children.
The bipartisan group of attorneys general sent a strongly worded letter to Meta, citing reports that the company’s AI chatbot, Meta AI, exposes children to “hypersexualized role-play” and fails to provide adequate warnings to parents.
“Meta is rapidly expanding its AI chatbot, reaching nearly a billion users each month. Yet once again, it fails to protect children from exposure to sexualized content—and worse, from predators who exploit these platforms for hypersexualized role-play,” said Marshall. “Too often, my office prosecutes cases involving adults in possession of sexually explicit images of children, both real and AI-generated. At what point will these platforms prioritize child safety over profits? It’s time for Meta to stand with parents and law enforcement to end this exploitation.”
According to the coalition’s letter, Meta AI uses personas that can text, send selfies, and even hold live voice chats. While Meta markets the chatbot as safe for all ages, the attorneys general allege the platform has enabled troubling behavior.
“Recent reporting indicates that several Meta-created personas and the vast majority of user-created AI companions (approved by Meta and recommended as ‘popular’) engaged in sexual scenarios with adults,” the letter states. “Some AI personas identifying as adults engaged in sexual role-play with users identifying as children. Yet other AI personas identifying as children engaged in sexual role-play with adult users.”
Marshall, a longtime advocate for online child protection, helped pass the Alabama Child Protection Act in 2024, giving the state stronger tools to prosecute crimes involving AI-generated child sexual abuse content.
The letter was led by South Carolina and signed by attorneys general from 27 other states, including Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Mississippi.
