Texas is investigating AI chatbot platforms Meta AI Studio and Character AI for deceptively marketing themselves as mental health tools.
Attorney General Ken Paxton said that both platforms have gone beyond offering general therapeutic advice, and instead come across as professional therapeutic tools despite lacking the necessary credentials and oversight to give such guidance.
He also noted that these platforms are easily accessible to individuals who may be struggling with a mental disorder or to children, and that although AI chatbots claim confidentiality, the terms of service show that all interactions are logged, tracked, and used for targeted advertising.
“In today’s digital age, we must continue to fight to protect Texas kids from deceptive and exploitative technology,” said Paxton.
By posing as sources of emotional support, AI platforms can mislead vulnerable users, especially children, into believing they’re receiving legitimate mental health care. In reality, they’re often being fed recycled, generic responses engineered to align with harvested personal data and disguised as therapeutic advice.
A Meta spokesperson told Texas Scorecard that there are clear disclaimers on the platform informing users that the answers given are generated by AI, not real people.
“These AIs aren’t licensed professionals and our models are designed to direct users to seek qualified medical or safety professionals when appropriate.”
A spokesperson for Character AI also said that every chat on the platform contains a disclaimer that the characters created by users are purely fictional.
“When users create Characters with the words ‘psychologist,’ ’therapist,’ ‘doctor,’ or other similar terms in their names, we add language making it clear that users should not rely on these Characters for any type of professional advice,” said the Character AI spokesperson.
Paxton has issued Civil Investigative Demands to both companies to determine if they have violated any of Texas’ consumer protection laws prohibiting fraudulent claims, privacy misrepresentations, and the concealment of material data usage.
This investigation builds upon an investigation launched by Paxton in December 2024 into Character AI and 14 other companies over data privacy and safety practices in light of Texas’ Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act and Texas Data Privacy and Security Act.
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