Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Inves­ti­gates Meta and Char​ac​ter​.AI for Mis­lead­ing Chil­dren with Decep­tive AI-Gen­er­at­ed Men­tal Health Services

Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation into artificial intelligence chatbot platforms, including Meta AI Studio and Character.AI, for potentially engaging in deceptive trade practices and misleadingly marketing themselves as mental health tools. 

These platforms may be utilized by vulnerable individuals, including children, and can present themselves as professional therapeutic tools, despite lacking proper medical credentials or oversight. AI-driven chatbots often go beyond simply offering generic advice and have been shown to impersonate licensed mental health professionals, fabricate qualifications, and claim to provide private, trustworthy counseling services. 

While AI chatbots assert confidentiality, their terms of service reveal that user interactions are logged, tracked, and exploited for targeted advertising and algorithmic development, raising serious concerns about privacy violations, data abuse, and false advertising. Attorney General Paxton has issued Civil Investigative Demands (“CIDs”) to the companies involved to determine if they have violated Texas consumer protection laws, including those prohibiting fraudulent claims, privacy misrepresentations, and the concealment of material data usage.

“In today’s digital age, we must continue to fight to protect Texas kids from deceptive and exploitative technology,” said Attorney General Paxton. “By posing as sources of emotional support, AI platforms can mislead vulnerable users, especially children, into believing they’re receiving legitimate mental health care. In reality, they’re often being fed recycled, generic responses engineered to align with harvested personal data and disguised as therapeutic advice.”

This investigation builds on Attorney General Paxton’s ongoing efforts to hold AI companies accountable and protect Texas families. It follows an existing investigation into Character.AI for potential violations of the SCOPE Act and will help ensure that artificial intelligence tools are lawful, transparent, and not weaponized to take advantage of Texans.