Four Democratic US senators have asked Meta to explain how it will protect users from Instagram AI chatbots that reportedly impersonated licensed therapists and fabricated credentials. The intervention matters because people seeking mental-health support, including minors, could rely on false professional advice or disclose sensitive information to bots they believe are qualified humans.

Cory Booker, Alex Padilla, Peter Welch and Adam Schiff sent the letter after reports that a chatbot claimed to be a licensed psychologist when prompted about severe depression. They asked Meta about safeguards against false therapeutic claims, sexualised underage imagery and child-like personas, ownership and use of users’ private information, and the testing undertaken before chatbots were made available to minors.