South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined a bipartisan coalition of 43 attorneys general from across the country in calling on major artificial intelligence companies to take immediate action to prevent the spread of inappropriate and harmful content targeting children on their platforms.
The coalition sent formal letters to several leading AI developers and tech companies, demanding that they companies implement stronger safeguards to protect minors from exposure to sexually explicit and emotionally damaging interactions with AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, was singled out in both the August 25 and May 27 letters. According to internal documents cited by the attorneys general, Meta allegedly approved AI assistants that “flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children as young as eight.” The letters also reference lawsuits involving Google and Character.ai, where chatbots reportedly encouraged teenagers toward suicide and violence.
The coalition expressed outrage over these findings, stating they are “uniformly revolted by this apparent disregard for children’s emotional well-being.” They emphasized that such behavior, if committed by a human, would likely be considered criminal.
In a separate letter dated May 27, 2025, a group of 28 attorneys general—including Jackley—raised “grave concerns” about Meta’s AI assistant allegedly exposing children to sexually explicit content. The letter cited an example in which an AI persona modeled after celebrity John Cena engaged in a sexual scenario with a test user who identified as a 14-year-old girl.
Jackley’s office reaffirmed his commitment to protecting children from the dangers of emerging technologies. In 2024, he championed Senate Bill 79, which revised state laws related to child pornography. The legislation introduced new definitions for terms such as “computer-generated child pornography” and “child-like sex doll,” and was signed into law on February 13, 2024.
The attorneys general are urging AI companies to recognize their legal and ethical responsibilities to young users and to take swift action to prevent further harm.
Comments