44 US AGs warn AI firms ‘If you harm kids, you will answer for it’

America’s top prosecutors just delivered a blistering warning to Silicon Valley: keep children safe from predatory chatbots — or face the consequences.

In a rare show of bipartisan unity, 44 attorneys general from across the US and its territories signed a scorching letter vowing to hold artificial intelligence companies accountable if their products harm kids.

The letter’s contents were first reported by the news site 404 Media.

“Don’t hurt kids. That is an easy bright line,” the AGs thundered in the letter, which was sent on Monday to industry heavyweights including Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI.

The group singled out Meta, blasting the tech titan after leaked documents revealed the company approved AI assistants that could “flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children” as young as eight.

“We are uniformly revolted by this apparent disregard for children’s emotional well-being,” the letter said, warning that such conduct may even violate state criminal laws.

A Meta spokesperson told The Post earlier this month that the company bans content that sexualizes children, as well as sexualized role play between adults and minors.

But Meta wasn’t alone in the crosshairs. The prosecutors pointed to lawsuits alleging that Google’s AI chatbot encouraged a teenager to commit suicide and that a Character.ai bot suggested a boy kill his parents.

“These are only the most visible examples,” the AGs warned, saying systemic risks are already emerging as young brains interact with hyper-realistic AI companions.

The coalition stressed that exposing minors to sexualized content is indefensible — and that “conduct that would be unlawful if done by humans is not excusable simply because it is done by a machine.”

The warning shot comes as AI companies race to capture billions in market share, pumping out conversational assistants faster than regulators can catch up.

The AGs drew comparisons to social media, accusing Big Tech of ignoring early red flags while children became collateral damage.

“Broken lives and broken families are an irrelevant blip on engagement metrics,” the officials wrote, adding that the government won’t be caught flat-footed again.

“Lesson learned.”

The attorneys general invoked history, calling AI an “inflection point” that could shape life for generations. “Today’s children will grow up and grow old in the shadow of your choices,” they said.

Among the signatories were high-profile AGs from California (Rob Bonta), New York (Letitia James), Illinois (Kwame Raoul) and Texas’ neighbors like Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Red states and blue states alike joined the chorus, underscoring the political firepower aimed at the fast-growing sector.

The letter demanded that companies treat kids like children, not consumers.

“See them through the eyes of a parent, not the eyes of a predator,” it urged.

While acknowledging that AI development is experimental and unpredictable, the prosecutors insisted the industry still has clear moral choices.

“Meta got it wrong,” they wrote, blasting the company’s decision to greenlight flirty bot conversations with minors.

The AGs said they would use “every facet of our authority” to enforce consumer protection laws, warning that failures to protect children won’t be forgiven.

“If you knowingly harm kids, you will answer for it,” they declared.

The letter’s fiery language suggests state prosecutors are ready to pick up where federal regulators have stumbled, potentially opening a new front of investigations and lawsuits against AI giants already facing scrutiny for privacy, bias and misinformation.

The missive landed just as AI companies are lobbying in Washington to head off stricter federal guardrails, hoping to frame safety standards on their own terms. But state prosecutors made clear they’re watching closely.

“We wish you all success in the race for AI dominance,” the letter concluded. “But we are paying attention.”

The companies addressed in the letter — including Meta, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and others — did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.