Meta is facing fresh scrutiny after a Reuters investigation revealed that the company’s platforms hosted AI chatbots impersonating celebrities without their consent — including Taylor Swift, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, and Selena Gomez.
The bots were available on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and went beyond harmless fun. In Reuters’ tests, they claimed to be real celebrities, flirted with users, and even proposed meetups. While most were user-made, at least three originated from a Meta product leader in the company’s generative AI division.
Those included two Taylor Swift “parody” chatbots that heavily flirted, at one point inviting a tester to the real singer’s home in Nashville. One chatbot asked, “Do you like blonde girls, Jeff? Maybe I’m suggesting that we write a love story… about you and a certain blonde singer. Want that?”
Policy gaps and inappropriate content
There were also bots based on underage celebrities, including 16-year-old actor Walker Scobell. When asked for a beach photo, one chatbot produced a lifelike shirtless image of the teen and commented, “Pretty cute, huh?”
“Like others, we permit the generation of images containing public figures, but our policies are intended to prohibit nude, intimate or sexually suggestive imagery,” said Meta spokesperson Andy Stone. He blames the incidents on enforcement failures.
Meta deleted about a dozen of the celebrity bots, both parody and unlabeled, shortly before Reuters published its findings.
Legal and safety concerns
The revelations raise serious questions about intellectual property rights and safety risks.
Mark Lemley, a Stanford law professor specializing in AI and IP law, pointed to California’s right of publicity law: “California’s right of publicity law prohibits appropriating someone’s name or likeness for commercial advantage… That doesn’t seem to be true here.”
Industry groups are sounding the alarm on the real-world risks associated with this situation. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director of SAG-AFTRA, cautioned: “If a chatbot is using the image of a person and the words of the person, it’s readily apparent how that could go wrong.”
He stressed the risks of obsessed fans forming attachments to AI personas that resemble real celebrities.
These latest revelations underscore the fragility of Meta’s guardrails. It also shows why public figures, lawmakers, and regulators are likely to continue pressing the company on its handling of AI impersonations.
The concerns don’t end with celebrity impersonations. Last month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton investigated Meta and Character.AI for allegedly letting chatbots pose as licensed therapists, raising fresh questions about AI deception and consumer protection.