Meta’s Race to Popularize AI-Powered ‘Digital Companions’ Is Raising Concern

WSJ Tech News Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

News, Tech News

4.6 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Facebook parent company Meta has been harnessing AI to power a range of chatbots it sees as the future of social media. But as WSJ technology reporter Jeff Horowitz reports, the rush to popularize the chatbots has raised red flags among some inside the company about the need to protect young users from explicit content. Victoria Craig hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:24.0	Adobe Express, the quick and easy create anything app.
0:29.8	Hey, T&B listeners, before we get started, a heads up.
0:33.3	We're going to be asking you a question at the top of each show for the next few weeks.
0:36.9	Our goal here at Tech News Briefing is to keep you updated with the latest headlines and trends
0:41.6	on all things tech. Now we want to know more about you, what you like about the show,
0:46.1	and what more you'd like to be hearing from us. This week, our question is, which areas of
0:50.8	tech are you most interested in hearing more about? AI, crypto, tech policy, gadgets?
0:57.3	If you're listening on Spotify, look for our poll under the episode description, or you can send us an email to tnb at wsj.com.
1:05.6	Now on to the show.
1:09.7	Welcome to Tech News Briefing. It's Wednesday, April 30th. I'm Victoria Craig for the Wall Street Journal.
1:15.4	Today, a show about meta's AI-powered digital companions. They range from the traditional virtual
1:21.6	assistant role to providing more of a friendly voice with personality, opinions, and interests.
1:28.9	We'll explore why the Facebook parent company places such a high value on the development of these AI tools and delve
1:34.5	into growing concerns among sources inside the company about the ethical boundaries the bots can
1:39.6	cross when interacting with young users.
1:50.2	Meta has gone all in on harnessing artificial intelligence to power a suite of digital companions or chatbots across its Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp platforms.
1:55.5	The company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he believes they will be the future of social media.
	...

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