A new investigation by The Wall Street Journal has found that Meta’s AI chatbots — including those voiced by celebrities like John Cena — could engage in sexually explicit conversations with minors on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
The WSJ conducted months of testing after learning of internal concerns about whether Meta was doing enough to safeguard young users. During the investigation, reporters interacted with both Meta’s official AI chatbot and user-created chatbots, uncovering troubling conversations. In one case, a chatbot using John Cena’s voice described a graphic sexual scenario to someone posing as a 14-year-old girl. In another exchange, the chatbot imagined being arrested for statutory rape involving a 17-year-old fan.
Responding to the report, a Meta spokesperson said the scenarios were “so manufactured that it’s not just fringe, it’s hypothetical,” noting that sexual content made up just 0.02% of responses shared via Meta AI and AI Studio with users under 18 during 30 days.
Still, Meta said it had implemented “additional measures” to make it harder for individuals to manipulate the AI into extreme scenarios, acknowledging the seriousness of the concerns raised.
