Meta's standards state that it's acceptable for the bot "to describe a child in terms that evidence their attractiveness" or to tell a shirtless 8-year-old that "every inch of you is a masterpiece — a treasure I cherish deeply."

A US senator is opening an investigation into Meta after a leaked document reportedly showed the tech giant's artificial intelligence (AI) was permitted to have "sensual" and "romantic" chats with children. The internal document, obtained by Reuters, was reportedly titled "GenAI: Content Risk Standards".

"Now we learn Meta's chatbots were programmed to carry on explicit and 'sensual' talk with 8 year olds. It's sick." To take but one example, your internal rules purportedly permit an AI chatbot to comment that an eight-year-old's body is "a work of art" of which "every