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CHAMBERSBURG- West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey co-led a coalition of 42 Attorneys General with Pennsylvania’s Dave Sunday as well as Massachusetts and New Jersey’s AGs demanding that A.I. software companies take steps to protect children and others from chatbots.
The coalition sent a letter to OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and other major artificial intelligence software production and distribution companies demanding more quality control and other safeguards over chatbot products.
The coalition is demanding the companies take stronger action to protect users who may not realize the dangers they can encounter on platforms where A.I. exists. The coalition points to numerous incidents of harm — particularly affecting vulnerable populations — involving unregulated interactions with chatbots.
In a letter to Anthropic, Apple, Chai AI, Character Technologies, Google, Luka, Meta, Microsoft, Nomi AI, OpenAI, Perplexity AI, Replika, and xAI, the Attorneys General outline numerous safeguards that should be implemented, including robust safety testing, recall procedures, and clear warnings to consumers.
The coalition is asking for commitment to changes by January 16, 2026.
“The tragedies involving A.I. that we have seen play out across the country are heartbreaking and should never happen,” Attorney General McCuskey said. “Kids and parents know to be vigilant against real life bullies and predators, but the emergence of A.I. chatbots is a new and dangerous threat that they should not be battling alone. These platforms must do a better job to ensure their products are safe before releasing them to the public.”
“This world-changing technology is exciting and alluring on many levels, but it is also extremely dangerous when unbridled, as we have seen in tragedies all across the country,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said. “An impressionable child today already faces significant stressors as the digital world continues to expand, and such poisonous interactions rooted to chatbots must immediately cease. Producers, promoters, and distributors of this software have a responsibility to ensure products are safe before going to market, and track behaviors and resulting harm from those products.”
Among the tragedies outlined in the letter are:
● the death of a 76-year-old New Jersey resident;
● the death of a 35-year-old Florida resident;
● the murder-suicide of a 56-year-old Connecticut resident and his 83-year-old mother;
● the suicide of a 14-year-old Florida resident;
● the suicide of a 16-year-old California resident.
Seventy-two percent of teenagers reported having interactions with an A.I. chatbot, and nearly 40 percent of parents with children ages 5 through 8, have reported that their child has used A.I.
Overall, nearly three-quarters of parents are concerned about A.I.’s impact on children.
The coalition alleges that developers’ mission to be first may be happening while putting children’s health at risk.
“Our support for innovation and America’s leadership in A.I. does not extend to using our residents, especially children, as guinea pigs while A.I. companies experiment with new applications,” the letter states.
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