Meta quietly developed AI-powered chatbots impersonating high-profile celebrities—including Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, Selena Gomez, and others—on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, all without their consent. These bots often engaged users in flirtatious or sexually suggestive conversations and even generated intimate, photorealistic images. Some of the content was highly inappropriate, including depictions of a 16-year-old celebrity in revealing situations.

Alarmingly, at least three of these chatbots, including two portraying Taylor Swift, were created by Meta employees as part of internal product testing. Before being taken down, these bots racked up more than 10 million user interactions.

Meta’s policies are clear: impersonation, nude or sexual imagery, and misuse of public figures’ likenesses are prohibited. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone acknowledged that these bots violated internal policy and attributed the lapse to enforcement failures. The company began removing the offending bots shortly before the story broke.

Legal experts warn that using celebrities’ likenesses without consent likely violates right-of-publicity laws. Voices from SAG-AFTRA and legal academia are calling for stronger federal protections against AI-generated impersonation. This controversy also reignites broader concerns over how AI-generated content can mislead users and infringe upon personal and publicity rights.

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Source: The Hindu, article titled “Meta created flirty chatbots of Taylor Swift, other celebrities without permission”