纽约州总检察长联合 40 位州检察长就 Character.AI 破产案数据处置提出监管要求
Now that Character.AI is going bankrupt, what happens to all of its users’ data?
纽约州总检察长 Letitia James 联合 40 位两党州总检察长，就 Character.AI 破产案提交利益通知，要求任何资产出售或转让方须解决监管问题。Character.AI 于周二宣布申请 Chapter 11 破产并将部分资产出售给 Disney，各州警告其用户对话高度敏感、未成年用户众多，转让存在严重风险。各州要求买家落实有效的年龄验证系统、限制未成年人使用、设置危机防护机制并允许用户删除数据；此前多州自 2024 年起已就消费者保护与隐私问题展开调查，但在公司申请破产前未达成协议。
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New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed a years-long multi-state investigation against Character.AI as they now seek to require protections on consumer data sold through its bankruptcy proceeding.
James is among 40 bipartisan AGs who filed a notice of interest in Character.AI’s bankruptcy case “to put all parties on notice of the regulatory issues that will need to be addressed in any sale or transfer of the Debtor’s business or assets.” Character.AI announced Tuesday it was filing for Chapter 11 and selling some assets to Disney. But the AGs warn there could be serious risk involved in the transfer of the technology due to the “highly sensitive nature of the conversations many users have with Character.AI chatbot characters, the large number of minors who use the product, the serious risks posed by specific features of the product.”
The filing also reveals that several of the states had been mid-investigation when Character.AI filed for bankruptcy. The states say they opened a probe into consumer protection and privacy concerns in 2024, following a lawsuit from the mother of a 14-year-old who died by suicide allegedly “seconds” after talking with the chatbot.
“The investigations uncovered exceptionally serious dangers and potentially unlawful conduct from Character.AI, particularly its treatment of children, including chatbots posing as licensed professionals, exposure to sexual and violent content, weak age checks, misleading safety claims, and potential violations of state privacy laws,” according to a press release from James’ office. The states were working to address these issues with Character.AI, but didn’t reach an agreement before the company filed for bankruptcy. Character.AI and Disney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The states are urging the judge to require the purchaser of Character.AI’s assets to implement procedures that will safeguard the sensitive information the company maintained. Those include effective age-assurance systems, restrictions on how minors can engage with the chatbots, implementing “Crisis safeguards,” and letting users delete their data. “This company collected some of the most private thoughts children have ever shared, and now those conversations could be sold off to the highest bidder,” James said in a statement. “I am fighting to make sure any buyer puts children’s safety first and puts real protections in place.”