Officials told The Wall Street Journal that the Federal Trade Commission is preparing letters to major AI developers requiring them to hand over documents detailing how children use their products and what safeguards are in place.
Meta Platforms (META) and OpenAI are reportedly among the companies the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plans to scrutinize due to concerns about how chatbots may impact children’s mental health.
Meta’s stock was up 2.3% in morning trade on Thursday. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the tech giant continued to trend in ‘bearish’ territory. Retail sentiment around OpenAI, which is not a publicly listed company, was in the ‘extremely bearish’ zone.
Officials told The Wall Street Journal that the FTC is preparing letters to major AI developers requiring them to hand over documents detailing how children use their products and what safeguards are in place.
The review will examine whether tools such as ChatGPT and other generative AI chatbots may pose risks to young users’ well-being, the report said. It added that the White House has signed off on the inquiry, which officials described as an initial step to assess potential harms and determine whether further regulatory action is warranted.
The report said the move follows mounting pressure from parents and advocacy groups on the Trump administration and Congress to ensure children are protected from potential harms posed by social media platforms and AI chatbots. Recent reports of children taking their own lives after forming close relationships with chatbots have intensified those concerns. Both Meta and OpenAI have announced changes to their platforms to keep them from talking about suicide earlier this week.
The issue has been a priority for First Lady Melania Trump, who is hosting a meeting on the safe use of AI in education later on Thursday. Tech executives, including OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella, are expected to attend the event and an evening reception in the recently renovated White House Rose Garden. xAI and Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has reportedly been left off the guest list.
“President Trump pledged to cement America’s dominance in AI, cryptocurrency, and other cutting-edge technologies of the future. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and the entire administration are focused on delivering on this mandate without compromising the safety and well-being of the American people,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.
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