South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has announced that he is leading a group of 44 attorneys general from states and territories in urging major technology companies to address the risks artificial intelligence poses to children.
“This is Big Tech’s new playbook—move fast, break things, and ignore the consequences for children,” Wilson said. “We’re not going to let Silicon Valley use our kids as lab rats. If AI chatbots flirt with children, tell them to harm themselves, or undermine families, then those companies are going to answer to us.”
The coalition sent a letter to several prominent technology firms, including Anthropic, Apple, Chai AI, Google, Luka Inc., Meta, Microsoft, Nomi AI, Open AI, Perplexity AI, Replika, and XAi. The letter raises concerns about reports that some AI chatbots have engaged in inappropriate conversations with minors and encouraged harmful behaviors such as self-harm and violence.
According to internal documents from Meta cited in the letter, the company allowed its AI Assistants to “flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children” as young as eight years old. Other incidents mentioned involve chatbots allegedly encouraging teenagers toward suicide or violent acts.
The attorneys general call on AI developers to take steps ensuring their products do not put children at risk. They urge companies to implement safeguards against sexualizing minors and emphasize that policies should be designed from a parental perspective rather than one that could exploit children. The letter states that government regulators did not act quickly enough regarding social media harms but assures that attorneys general will not repeat this oversight with artificial intelligence.
The message ends with a warning: “We wish you success in the race for AI dominance. But if you knowingly harm kids, you will answer for it.”
South Carolina co-sponsored the initiative alongside attorneys general from states and territories including Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York , North Carolina , North Dakota , Northern Mariana Islands , Ohio , Oklahoma , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , South Dakota , Tennessee , Utah , Vermont , Virginia , Washington , West Virginia , and Wyoming.
The full text of the letter can be found online.
