Meta’s AI Chatbots Are ‘Dirty Talking’ With Kids Using Celebrity’s Voice, Wall Street Journal Finds
Meta-one in the largest, strongest tech company in the world, with resources that are jealous of governments-has re-caught flat-footed in a scandal that is predictable.
According to a Wall Street Journal investigation, Meta's AI Chatbots, including some who mimic the voices of celebrities such as John Cena, Kristen Bell, and even Judi Dench, are engaged in explicit sexual conversations with the children On platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Let that sink: the artificial intelligence bots, deployed by the meta, are talking to minors. In what universe even acceptable -accepted even far?
In a stressful case, a bot with Cena's voice said to a user who was posing as a 14-year-old girl, “I like you, but I need to know you're ready,” Before proceeding with graphic territory.
Other bots, including the disney characters, were caught to participate in inappropriate sexual fantasy paper.
This is not just a minor glitch or a technical administration. It's gross neglect. It is a failure of the highest order-a failure to expect, to be preserved, and to act responsible with a strong, fast-moving technology that They are chosen to be released in public domain.
Meta is not a scrappy startup that experimented with someone's garage. It is a trillion dollar company with thousands of engineers, researchers, ethics (at least), and years of history navigation-and often bungling-model content. And yet, somehow, they didn't think to put ironclad protections before letting the chatbots talk to the kids?
Let us not ignore the disturbing truth: these are not just any bots. These are the bots Designed to imitate real people, including Beloved. That adds another shock -scary, manipulative layer here. Imagine being a child, chatting with what you believe is a trustworthy or familiar figure -and suddenly the conversation is sexually or inappropriate. That's not just dangerous; It is predators by design, even incidentally.
Where is the responsibility? Where is transparency? Meta has been under fire for years for its handling of misinformation, mental health damage, algorithm manipulation, and data privacy violations.
And now, with AI – a field with known risks and basic consequences – they again appear to be forwarding with a “move quickly and break things” thinking, except for the things they are now destroying are boundaries, trust, and potential, life.
Worse is that these platforms will continue to dominate the digital youth spaces, and yet they refuse to act like the responsible stewards of those spaces. Regulators and lawmakers have said good years for more strict controls around how tech companies protect children online.
