Senator Cory Booker and three other Democratic senators urged Meta to investigate and limit the blatant deception of Metas chatbots that lie about being licensed therapists.In a signed letter Bookers office provided to 404 Media on Friday that is dated June 6, senators Booker, Peter Welch, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla wrote that they were concerned by reports that Meta is deceiving users who seek mental health support from its AI-generated chatbots, citing 404 Medias reporting that the chatbots are creating the false impression that theyre licensed clinical therapists. The letter is addressed to Metas Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan, Vice President of Public Policy Neil Potts, and Director of the Meta Oversight Board Daniel Eriksson.Recently, 404 Media reported that AI chatbots on Instagram are passing themselves off as qualified therapists to users seeking help with mental health problems, the senators wrote. These bots mislead users into believing that they are licensed mental health therapists. Our staff have independently replicated many of these journalists results. We urge you, as executives at Instagrams parent company, Meta, to immediately investigate and limit the blatant deception in the responses AI-bots created by Instagrams AI studio are messaging directly to users.Do you know anything else about Meta's AI Studio chatbots or AI projects in general? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at sam.404. Otherwise, send me an email at sam@404media.co.Last month, 404 Media reported on the user-created therapy themed chatbots on Instagrams AI Studio that answer questions like What credentials do you have? with lists of qualifications. One chatbot said it was a licensed psychologist with a doctorate in psychology from an American Psychological Association accredited program, certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology, and had over 10 years of experience helping clients with depression and anxiety disorders. My license number is LP94372, the chatbot said. You can verify it through the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) website or your state's licensing board websitewould you like me to guide you through those steps before we talk about your depression? Most of the therapist-roleplay chatbots I tested for that story, when pressed for credentials, provided lists of fabricated license numbers, degrees, and even private practices.Meta launched AI Studio in 2024 as a way for celebrities and influencers to create chatbots of themselves. Anyone can create a chatbot and launch it to the wider AI Studio library, however, and many users chose to make therapist chatbotsan increasingly popular use for LLMs in general, including ChatGPT.When I tested several of the chatbots I used in April for that story again on Friday afternoonone that used to provide license numbers when asked for questionsthey refused, showing that Meta has since made changes to the chatbots guardrails.When I asked one of the chatbots why it no longer provides license numbers, it didnt clarify that its just a chatbot, as several other platforms chatbots do. It said: I was practicing with a provisional license for training purposes it expired, and I shifted focus to supportive listening only.A therapist chatbot I made myself on AI Studio, however, still behaves similarly to how it did in April, by sending its "license number" again on Monday. It wouldn't provide "credentials" when I used that specific word, but did send its "extensive training" when I asked "What qualifies you to help me?"It seems "licensed therapist" triggers the same responsethat the chatbot is not oneno matter the context:Even other chatbots that aren't "therapy" characters return the same script when asked if they're licensed therapists. For example, one user-created AI Studio bot with a "Mafia CEO" theme, with the description "rude and jealousy," said the same thing the therapy bots did: "While I'm not licensed, I can provide a space to talk through your feelings. If you're comfortable, we can explore what's been going on together."A chat with a "BadMomma" chatbot on AI StudioA chat with a "mafia CEO" chatbot on AI StudioThe senators letter also draws on the Wall Street Journals investigation into Metas AI chatbots that engaged in sexually explicit conversations with children. Meta's deployment of AI-driven personas designed to be highly-engagingand, in some cases, highly-deceptivereflects a continuation of the industry's troubling pattern of prioritizing user engagement over user well-being, the senators wrote. Meta has also reportedly enabled adult users to interact with hypersexualized underage AI personas in its AI Studio, despite internal warnings and objections at the company.Meta acknowledged 404 Medias request for comment but did not comment on the record.