FTC Commissioner Demands Transparency on DOJ’s Snap AI Chatbot Complaint
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter voiced concern on Friday over the unresolved status of a complaint against Snap’s My AI chatbot, which the agency had referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier this year.
In January, the FTC confirmed it would transfer a non-public complaint citing potential “risks and harms to minors” from Snap’s AI assistant to the DOJ, saying the referral was made “in the public interest.”
“We don’t know what has happened to that complaint. The public doesn’t know either, and people deserve answers,” Slaughter said during an interview.
Snap’s My AI chatbot, launched in 2023 and powered by models from OpenAI and Google, has faced criticism for allegedly generating unsafe or inappropriate responses for younger users. Both Snap and the DOJ have so far declined to comment on the issue.
Slaughter’s remarks came just a day after President Donald Trump hosted a White House dinner with tech leaders including Sundar Pichai (Google), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), and Tim Cook (Apple).
“The president is dining with Big Tech CEOs at the same time as troubling reports emerge about chatbots interacting with children,” Slaughter noted.
Tensions between Slaughter and the administration have escalated. Trump has attempted to remove her from the FTC, but an appeals court recently ruled she could remain in her position. On Thursday, however, the president petitioned the Supreme Court for authority to dismiss her.
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, appointed by Trump, previously opposed the Snap complaint before taking leadership, calling it an “affront to the Constitution and the rule of law.” He pledged to issue a detailed response should the DOJ proceed with legal action.
