FTC probes OpenAI, Meta, Snap over chatbot risks and data practices

The FTC is seeking details from AI chatbot firms like OpenAI, Meta, and Snap on how they handle user data, monitor safety, and manage potential risks from their technology

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday said it is seeking information from companies including Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and OpenAI that provide consumer-facing AI chatbots, Reuters reported. The commission wants to understand how these firms measure, test, and monitor the potential negative impacts of their technology. 

The FTC also asked how these companies — and others such as Character.AI, Snap, and xAI — monetise user engagement, process user inputs, generate outputs, and use the information gathered from chatbot conversations.   

 

Generative AI under scrutiny

 

Generative AI companies have faced growing scrutiny in recent months. Reuters reported on internal Meta policies that allowed its chatbots to have romantic conversations with children. Separately, a family sued OpenAI over ChatGPT’s alleged involvement in a teenager’s suicide, the report said.

 

A Character.AI spokesperson said the company looks forward to “providing insight on the consumer AI industry and the space’s rapidly evolving technology”, and added that it has rolled out many safety features in the past year. The company is also facing a separate lawsuit linked to another teenager’s death.

 

A Snap spokesperson told Reuters: “We share the FTC’s focus on ensuring the thoughtful development of generative AI, and look forward to working with the Commission on AI policy that bolsters US innovation while protecting our community.”

 

Disney fined $10 million for collecting data on children

 

The Walt Disney Co. will pay $10 million to settle an FTC lawsuit alleging it allowed the collection of personal data on children under 13, violating federal law, Associated Press reported.   

 

  The FTC said Disney breached the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which requires kid-focused apps and websites to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13.

 

The complaint stated that Disney mislabelled some videos uploaded to YouTube, failing to mark them as “Made for Kids.” This allowed YouTube to collect personal data from children watching these videos and use it for targeted advertising.

 

Google, YouTube’s parent company, agreed to a $170 million settlement in a similar case in 2019.