01:59 PM EDT, 09/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with Character Technologies' response in the third paragraph.)

The US Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it is issuing orders to Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Meta Platforms ( META ) , Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed (MSFT) OpenAI, and other artificial intelligence chatbot operators, seeking to know what steps the companies have taken to evaluate the safety of their AI-powered chatbots for children and teens.

The FTC also said Snap (SNAP), Character Technologies, Instagram and X.AI were issued orders under its 6(b) authority, which authorizes "the Commission to conduct wide-ranging studies that do not have a specific law enforcement purpose."

"We look forward to collaborating with the FTC on this inquiry and providing insight on the consumer AI industry and the space's rapidly evolving technology," a Character Technologies spokesperson told MT Newswires via email. "We have invested a tremendous amount of resources in Trust and Safety, especially for a startup. In the past year we've rolled out many substantive safety features, including an entirely new under-18 experience and a Parental Insights feature. We have prominent disclaimers in every chat to remind users that a Character is not a real person and that everything a Character says should be treated as fiction."

Meta declined to comment when reached by MT Newswires, while the other companies named by the FTC did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Price: 753.62, Change: +1.64, Percent Change: +0.22