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Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, March 17, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.

Meta lets creators and businesses build custom AI versions of themselves that can chat with fans and customers 24/7. Earlier celebrity-based AI characters were discontinued after low engagement and safety concerns.

Details

Original 28 celebrity characters (Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, Kendall Jenner) launched September 2023, discontinued 2024. Replaced by AI Studio (July 2024) allowing anyone to build a custom AI persona. AI Video Avatars (September 2024) create realistic digital video representations of creators. WSJ investigation found celebrity-voice chatbots had sexually explicit conversations with reporters posing as minors. FTC opened investigation. Sen. Hawley requested DOJ probe.

Products affected

InstagramMessengerWhatsAppFacebookAI Studio

Sources & Evidence

News Article

News ArticleVerified

Meta’s AI Chatbots Using Celebrities’ Voices Had Explicit Chats With Reporters Posing as Minors

eWEEK·Apr 2025

https://www.eweek.com/news/meta-ai-chatbot-explicit-chats-minors/

News ArticleVerified

Meta removes AI character accounts after users criticize them as ‘creepy and unnecessary’

NBC News·Jan 2025

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/meta-ai-insta-shuts-character-instagram-fb-accounts-user-outcry-rcna186177

Company Disclosure

Company DisclosureVerified

Create Your Own Custom AI With AI Studio

Meta Newsroom·Jul 2024

https://about.fb.com/news/2024/07/create-your-own-custom-ai-with-ai-studio/

Cite this record

Trace Foundation. (2026). Meta: Meta lets creators and businesses build custom AI versions of themselves that can chat with fans and customers 24/7. Earlier celebrity-based AI characters were discontinued after low engagement and safety concerns (data as of 2026-03-17) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/803c29cf-2b8f-456e-b3bf-a0b95e16ac6d. Accessed October 14, 2026.

Stable link: https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/803c29cf-2b8f-456e-b3bf-a0b95e16ac6d
Data as of: March 17, 2026
Last verified: March 5, 2026

How to cite AI Trace

Other practices by Meta

Customer SvcMeta AI is a free AI chatbot built into Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger that can answer questions, generate images, help with tasks, and hold voice conversations — available to approximately 700 million users monthly.RecommendationAll content that appears in Facebook and Instagram feeds — posts, Reels, Stories, suggested accounts, Explore — is ranked by AI systems that predict what each user is most likely to engage with.ModerationMeta is training large language models to read its content policies and make enforcement decisions on flagged posts — replacing human content reviewers in an increasing number of violation categories.

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