Meta allowed minors access to sex-talking chatbots despite staff concerns, lawsuit alleges

Tue, 27 Jan 2026

Filing by New Mexico’s attorney general includes Meta staff emails objecting to AI companion policy

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, approved allowing minors to access artificial intelligence chatbot companions that safety staffers warned were capable of sexual interactions, according to internal Meta documents filed in a New Mexico state court case and made public on Monday.

The lawsuit – brought by the state’s attorney general, Raul Torrez, and scheduled for trial next month – alleges Meta “failed to stem the tide of damaging sexual material and sexual propositions delivered to children” on Facebook and Instagram.