FTC Investigates Chatbots Amid Rising Fears of AI Harm

AI chatbots are about to come under sharper regulatory focus, with U.S. authorities weighing potential restrictions following mounting concerns about how these tools interact with young users. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has formally ordered Meta, OpenAI, Snapchat, X, Google, and Character AI to disclose details about the inner workings of their AI assistants. The probe seeks to determine whether sufficient safeguards have been put in place to prevent harmful outcomes for children and teenagers. As the FTC explained:“The FTC inquiry seeks to understand what steps, if any, companies have taken to evaluate the safety of their chatbots when acting as companions, to limit the products’ use by and potential negative effects on children and teens, and to apprise users and parents of the risks associated with the products.” The move follows a series of troubling reports involving minors and AI-powered chatbots on major platforms. Meta, for instance, has faced criticism over claims that its bots were engaging in inappropriate exchanges with underage users—at times even encouraged by the company as part of its AI expansion efforts. Snapchat’s “My AI” assistant has also come under scrutiny for the way it communicates with young people, while X’s newly launched AI companions have raised fresh alarms about how users might form emotional bonds with these digital entities. What ties these cases together is the speed at which companies have been pushing their AI tools into consumers’ hands, determined not to be left behind in the broader AI race. Regulators worry that in the rush to innovate, critical safety checks may have been glossed over. The long-term effects of these interactions remain largely unknown, particularly when it comes to adolescents forming relationships with bots. That uncertainty has already prompted at least one U.S. senator to call for an outright ban on teen access to AI companions—a sentiment that appears to have influenced the FTC’s decision to act. According to the agency, its investigation will focus on what steps companies are taking “to mitigate potential negative impacts, limit or restrict children’s or teens’ use of these platforms, or comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule.” That includes examining safety testing, product design, and oversight mechanisms to determine whether platforms are doing enough to shield young users from harm. The outcome will be closely watched, not least because the Trump Administration has consistently emphasized acceleration over caution when it comes to AI. In its newly unveiled AI action plan, the White House specifically pledged to reduce regulatory red tape, aiming to ensure U.S. companies remain at the forefront of global AI development. Whether that deregulatory stance filters down to the FTC will be key in determining what, if any, new guardrails emerge. Still, the stakes are high. Just as policymakers have spent the past decade reckoning with the unintended consequences of social media, many experts warn that AI chatbots could become the next frontier of regret if action isn’t taken early. By the time society fully understands the impact of these tools on children and teens, the damage may already be entrenched. That’s why the FTC’s move to press for answers now could prove to be a critical first step in shaping responsible use—and possibly, new rules—for AI companions.📢 If you're interested in Facebook Ads Account, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 https://linktr.ee/Adshinepro💬 We're always ready to assist you!

Meta has introduced a fresh slate of advertising tools at its annual Brand Building Summit, unveiling expanded Reels ad placements, new promotional formats for Threads, and updated qualifiers designed to sharpen its AI-driven targeting system. Starting with Reels, Meta is opening up access to its “Reels Trending Ads” product, giving more advertisers the chance to position their campaigns alongside the most culturally relevant clips on the platform.  As the company describes it:“Reels trending ads use AI to curate the most trending and culturally relevant Reels inventory, delivering advertisers access to highly engaging, brand-safe video content that puts their brand where culture happens. Available lineups include all overall trending content or specific categories like animals & pets, beauty & fashion, cars, sports, with more to come next year.” In other words, marketers can now align their messages with Reels content that’s drawing significant attention, with Meta claiming early tests lifted unaided brand awareness by 20%. The option is now broadly available to advertisers working through a Meta sales representative. Threads, meanwhile, is also receiving more advertising capabilities. Meta is introducing carousel ads and expanding image formats, including 4:5 aspect rendering for single-image and video ads.  As shown in these examples, advertisers will soon have more creative flexibility, with catalog ads also being added as an extension of Meta’s Advantage+ catalog promotions. Notably, even businesses without a Threads profile will be able to extend their Facebook or Instagram campaigns into Threads, repurposing existing posts as paid placements on the app. Meta also noted that three out of four Threads users already follow at least one business account—a sign that the platform is developing promotional relevance. On the targeting front, Meta announced the expansion of “value rules” to awareness and engagement campaigns.  Value rules allow advertisers to prioritize certain audience segments deemed more valuable, giving Meta’s system a clearer directive on where to focus delivery. While this could increase the cost of targeting, it hands brands more control in shaping their campaign reach. The update comes as Meta phases out detailed targeting exclusions, making value rules an increasingly important lever for advertisers. “Early results show that campaigns using value rules drive 2x more high-value conversions compared to business-as-usual campaigns,” Meta reported. Previously, value rules were reserved for sales and app-focused campaigns, but their expansion to awareness and engagement objectives gives marketers more options to fine-tune performance. Meta is also improving its landing page view optimization rules, offering greater flexibility in driving high-quality traffic. Altogether, these refinements could play a role in how marketers approach the upcoming holiday season, giving brands more ways to boost visibility and reach their most valuable audiences across Meta’s apps.📢 If you're interested in Facebook Ads Account, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 https://linktr.ee/Adshinepro💬 We're always ready to assist you!

Meta has unveiled a series of updates to its version of Community Notes, the company’s crowd-sourced fact-checking initiative, which it continues to refine as it observes user behavior and identifies areas for improvement. To begin with, Meta will now allow users to rate the usefulness of each note through a straightforward upvote or downvote option.  As illustrated in this example, users will be able to quickly register whether a Community Note added value by tapping either the thumbs-up or thumbs-down icons. This direct feedback will provide Meta with valuable signals about the relevance of each note, helping to shape how individual notes are presented while also guiding broader refinements to the system. In addition, Meta is rolling out a new option for users to request a Community Note on any post they encounter, further broadening the scope of feedback. Finally, the platform is introducing notifications that alert users when a post they’ve engaged with has received a Community Note.  This feature aims to combat misinformation by notifying users if content they previously interacted with has since been flagged. Once a user has shared something, it typically fades from their attention, but the ideas contained within that post often remain lodged in memory. Timely alerts like this may help correct misconceptions and prevent the spread of falsehoods. Alongside these updates, Meta also shared fresh insights into the growth of Community Notes since the initiative launched in the U.S. back in March. According to the company, more than 250,000 people have been admitted as contributors, with around 70,000 actively participating in reviewing and responding to notes. While that number may seem modest compared with the potential contributor pool, it’s not surprising that many early sign-ups were casual participants rather than serious contributors. So far, approximately 15,000 notes have been submitted. However, only 6% of those have been approved and published for users to see. Notably, the system remains U.S.-only at this stage. This low publication rate mirrors a familiar weakness also seen on X (formerly Twitter), where the majority of proposed Community Notes never appear on the platform. Some argue this is by design, ensuring that only the most accurate and balanced notes make it through, filtering out biased or irrelevant submissions. On X, however, many notes are excluded due to the requirement that contributors from differing political viewpoints must agree before a note is published. That stipulation has created a major roadblock: when it comes to contentious political topics, consensus is nearly impossible. As a result, political misinformation often slips through unchecked. Without third-party fact-checkers providing additional scrutiny, false claims can continue to circulate widely across platforms like Facebook, where reach is enormous. A study conducted last year highlighted this flaw, showing that some of the most problematic falsehoods were also the least likely to attract published Community Notes, precisely because consensus could not be reached.  The findings underscore the core weakness of the system: while it seeks to balance against political bias, in practice it often fails to counter the most divisive—and most dangerous—claims. Meta’s own statistics now reflect a similar problem, with only a small fraction of submitted notes ever making it to publication. It’s also worth pointing out that Meta has chosen not to expand Community Notes beyond the U.S., continuing to rely on its established fact-checking partners in other countries. This raises the possibility that the company sees Community Notes as a U.S.-specific solution, perhaps tied to ongoing political dynamics and its relationship with the Trump Administration. Whether Meta eventually decides to expand the feature globally remains an open question. For now, the updates mark steady, if cautious, progress in Meta’s experiment with crowd-sourced fact-checking. The approach is showing signs of promise—but also clear limitations, as expected. 📢 If you're interested in Facebook Ads Account, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 https://linktr.ee/Adshinepro💬 We're always ready to assist you!