WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade

Commission said on Thursday it has referred to the Justice

Department a complaint against Snap Inc. ( SNAP ), that alleges

its messaging app Snapchat used an artificial intelligence

chatbot that harmed young users.

The consumer protection agency did not provide any further

detail on the alleged harm from the My AI chatbot, but said

publicizing the transfer of the complaint to the DOJ was in the

public interest.

The FTC said its investigation "uncovered reason to believe

Snap is violating or is about to violate the law."

Shares of Snap briefly dipped after the news and are

unchanged for the day.