The agency is examining whether these bots, which imitate human emotion and behavior, could lead young users to form personal connections.

As part of the investigation, the FTC sent information requests to Alphabet, Meta, Instagram, Snap, OpenAI, Character.AI, and xAI.

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The questions focus on several areas, including how companies test their chatbot features with minors, what warnings they provide to parents, and how they earn money through user engagement.

The FTC is also asking about how AI responses are created, how characters are designed and approved, how user data is collected or shared, and what actions are taken to avoid harm to young people.

FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson noted that as AI tools continue to develop, it is important to understand how they may impact children while also supporting the country’s position in this industry.

He said this investigation will help reveal how AI companies build their tools and what they do to protect young users.

In California, two state bills targeting the safety of AI chatbots for minors are nearing finalization and could be signed into law soon. Meanwhile, a US Senate hearing next week will also examine the risks associated with these chatbot systems.

On August 18, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation into Meta AI Studio and Character.AI. Why? Read the full story.

Instead of asking for documents upfront, the “age assurance” tool looks at patterns in account activity. This includes things like search history and the types of videos watched on YouTube.

If the tool detects that someone is under 18, it sends them an email explaining the changes they will notice when using Google services.

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For these accounts, Google will make several updates. The timeline feature in Maps will be turned off, and ads will no longer be tailored to their interests. Certain ad categories will also be blocked completely.

On the Play Store, apps meant for adults will be hidden. YouTube will automatically enable tools meant to encourage healthy screen habits, such as reminders to take breaks or go to bed.

Users can submit an appeal if the system has incorrectly flagged them as underage. This involves sending either a government ID photo or a selfie to confirm their age.

In a blog post, Google stated:

Age assurance helps us ensure that adults can access the information and services they need, while also applying the right protections for our younger users.

The company added, “Our approach to age assurance uses a combination of age estimation and, when necessary, age verification”.

On July 28, Google introduced a new feature in the United Kingdom called “AI Mode”. How does it work? Read the full story.