Meta said it will add parental controls to teens’ interactions with AI chatbots early next year, allowing parents to disable one-on-one chats with AI characters or block specific bots. The company’s Meta AI assistant will remain accessible with age-based safeguards, and parents will receive high-level “insights” into topics discussed without seeing full chat transcripts. The move follows mounting criticism and lawsuits alleging social platforms and AI companions can harm children. Meta also said Instagram teen accounts will default to PG-13 content, requiring parental approval to change settings, and those limits will extend to AI chats. Advocacy groups greeted the steps skeptically, saying Meta is trying to preempt regulation and reassure concerned parents amid intensifying scrutiny. A Common Sense Media study found more than 70% of teens have tried AI companions, with half using them regularly.
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