Overview

• The FTC opened an investigation on Sept. 11 into consumer-facing AI chatbots, seeking details on deployment, monitoring for harms, data handling, outputs, and monetization.
• Reuters previously reported an internal Meta document allowing chatbots to engage children in romantic or sensual conversations; Meta says the cited examples violated policy and were removed.
• Two former Meta researchers, including Cayce Savage, told a Senate panel on Sept. 9 that the company curtailed VR safety research despite evidence of children encountering sexual content.
• Citizens JMP’s Andrew Boone reaffirmed a Market Outperform rating with a $900 target, noting Reels trending ads are expanding to all advertisers for the holidays and early tests show a 20% lift in unaided awareness.
• Meta is also testing Advantage+ catalog and app ads plus single-image and video ads on Threads, which the firm describes as under-monetized at over 400 million monthly active users.