Meta is stopping teens from chatting with its AI characters

Meta is “temporarily pausing” the ability for teens to chat with its AI characters as it develops a “new version” of the characters that will offer a “better experience.” The company made the announcement in an update to a blog post from October where the company had detailed more parental controls for teen AI use. The change blocking teens from accessing the characters will go into effect “starting in the coming weeks.”

”Since we announced our plans to build parental controls for AI characters in October, we started developing a new iteration of AI characters generally (i.e. for both adults and teens),” spokesperson Sophie Vogel tells The Verge. “Rather than building the parental controls twice (for the current AI characters and the new iteration of AI characters) we’re pausing teen access to the current version while we focus on the new iteration. When that new iteration is available for teens, it will come with parental controls.”

According to TechCrunch, “Meta said that it heard from parents that they wanted more insights and control over their teens’ interactions with AI characters, which is why it decided to make these changes.”

In October, Meta announced that parents would be able to block their teens’ access to one-on-one conversations with its AI characters, block their teens from talking with specific AI characters, and share insights with parents on the topics their teens discuss with Meta’s AI characters and its AI assistant. The original plan was to roll out the blocking controls for the characters early this year. However, in Friday’s announcement, Meta says it is still working on how to share insights with parents about the conversations their teens are having with Meta’s AI assistant. That feature is “coming soon,” Vogel says.

Last year, also in October, Meta changed Instagram teen accounts to allow teens to be able to see content that’s reflective of what might be shown in a movie rated for people that are 13 or older.

Update, January 23rd: Added information from a Meta spokesperson.

Correction, January 23rd: Clarified that Meta is still working on how to share insights with parents about the conversations their teens are having with Meta’s AI assistant.