America's top attorneys give stern warning to AI firms that 'knowingly harm kids'

America’s top prosecutors just delivered a blistering warning to Silicon Valley: keep children safe from predatory chatbots — or face the consequences.In a rare show of bipartisan unity, 44 attorneys general from across the US and its territories signed a scorching letter vowing to hold artificial intelligence companies accountable if their products harm kids.The letter’s contents were first reported by the news site 404 Media.“Don’t hurt kids.That is an easy bright line,” the AGs thundered in the letter, which was sent on Monday to industry heavyweights including Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI.The group singled out Meta, blasting the tech titan after leaked documents revealed the company approved AI assistants that could “flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children” as young as eight.“We are uniformly revolted by this apparent disregard for children’s emotional well-being,” the letter said, warning that such conduct may even violate state criminal laws.A Meta spokesperson told The Post earlier this month that the company bans content that sexualizes children, as well as sexualized role play between adults and minors.But Meta wasn’t alone in the crosshairs.

The prosecutors pointed to lawsuits alleging that Google’s AI chatbot encouraged a teenager to commit suicide and that a Character.ai bot suggested a boy kill his parents.“These are only the most visible examples,” the AGs warned, saying systemic risks are already emerging as young brains interact with hyper-realistic AI companions.The coalition stressed that exposing minors to sexualized content is indefensible — and that “conduct that would be unlawful if done by humans is not excusable simply because it is done by a machine.”The warning shot comes as AI companies race to capture billions in market share, pumping out conversational assistants faster than regulators can catch up.The AGs drew comparisons to social media, accusin...