(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday said it is seeking information from seven companies including Alphabet, Meta and OpenAI that provide consumer-facing AI-powered chatbots, on how these firms measure, test and monitor potentially negative impacts of the technology. The FTC said it is seeking information on how the companies monetize user engagement, […]
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FTC launches inquiry into AI chatbots of Alphabet, Meta, five others
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(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday said it is seeking information from seven companies including Alphabet, Meta and OpenAI that provide consumer-facing AI-powered chatbots, on how these firms measure, test and monitor potentially negative impacts of the technology.
The FTC said it is seeking information on how the companies monetize user engagement, process user inputs and generate outputs in response to user inquiries and also use the information obtained through conversations with the chatbots.
The other companies in the FTC’s list are Character.AI, Instagram, Snap and xAI.
Alphabet, OpenAI, Meta, Snap, xAI and Character.AI did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
An internal Meta document detailing policies on chatbot behavior has permitted the company’s AI creations to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,” generate false medical information and help users argue that Black people are “dumber than white people,” Reuters had reported in August.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Maju Samuel)