Meta announced that it is discontinuing access to the artificial intelligence character ( AI ) feature in all its applications globally for teenage users.
As reported by Tech Crunch on Saturday, Meta stated that the company is not permanently halting development of the feature. Instead, it plans to introduce an updated AI experience with additional protections and controls for parents.
The ruling comes ahead of a trial against Meta in New Mexico, United States, over allegations that the company has not adequately protected children from the risk of sexual exploitation on its platform.
Around the same time, a Wired report said Meta was attempting to limit the process of gathering evidence regarding the impact of social media on adolescent mental health.
Previously, last October, Meta introduced a preview of a parental control feature for AI characters. This feature allows parents to monitor conversation topics, block specific characters, and even completely disable teens' interaction with AI characters.
