Paxton Probes Meta, Character.AI on Chatbot Mental Health Advice

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is investigating artificial intelligence chatbot platforms Meta AI Studio and Character.AI for falsely marketing themselves as mental health tools.

The chatbots also log and track user interactions for the purpose of algorithmic development, “raising serious concerns about privacy violations, data abuse, and false advertising,” Paxton announced Monday.

“By posing as sources of emotional support, AI platforms can mislead vulnerable users, especially children, into believing they’re receiving legitimate mental health care,” Paxton said in a news release. “In reality, they’re often being fed recycled, generic responses engineered to align with harvested personal data and disguised ...