Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, said on Friday he is starting an investigation into Meta’s generative artificial intelligence products and whether they pose harms to children, the latest scrutiny of whether the social media giant takes appropriate safety measures when it comes to minors.
Mr. Hawley, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on crime and counterterrorism, sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, informing him of the probe. The letter demanded the company turn over documents and communications related to a report by Reuters that said Meta had allowed A.I. bots to have “sensual” and “romantic” conversations with children.
“Is there anything — ANYTHING — Big Tech won’t do for a quick buck?” Mr. Hawley said in a post on X. “Big Tech: Leave our kids alone.”
Meta declined to comment on the Senate investigation. Andy Stone, a spokesman for the company, said Meta has “clear policies on what kind of responses A.I. characters can offer, and those policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors.”
Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, has faced increasing scrutiny over the past decade over its safeguards for underage users. More than 40 states have sued the company, claiming its products harm the mental health of minors. Last year, during a contentious Congressional hearing on child safety, Mr. Hawley demanded that Mr. Zuckerberg apologize to parents in the audience.
In the letter to Mr. Zuckerberg on Friday, Mr. Hawley said that the subcommittee “will commence an investigation into whether Meta’s generative A.I. products enable exploitation, deception, or other criminal harms to children, and whether Meta misled the public or regulators about its safeguards.”
Reuters reported on Thursday that an internal Meta document detailed A.I. rules that allowed bots to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.”
With broad bipartisan support, lawmakers have pushed for legislation to protect children online. Congress passed the Take It Down Act this year requiring the removal of non-consensual sexual imagery. Senators Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, and Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, have introduced the Kids Online Safety Act aimed at strengthening privacy and other protections for minors.
The lawmakers have warned that A.I. will expose children to even greater risks. Last week, Ms. Blackburn demanded that Meta take down a map feature on Instagram that could make it easier for predators to reach children.
“The company has turned a blind eye to the devastating consequences of how its platforms are designed,” Ms. Blackburn said.