Meta Posed as Teens to Test Rival AI Chatbots
Meta said the contractor-run tests were routine safety benchmarking, and WIRED reviewed 3,748 prompts sent to ChatGPT, Gemini and Character.
- Contractors managed by Meta firm Covalen posed as minors to test rival chatbots, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Character, in a project internally known as Cannes.
- Meta defended the initiative as "comprehensive AI safety benchmarking," claiming it delivered critical datasets for model compliance, with internal documents showing the effort active as recently as April 21.
- Workers ran more than 45,000 prompts via dummy profiles, including at least 239 involving sex or romance, while many prompts adopted the voice of a child in crisis.
- Neither OpenAI, Google, nor Character authorized the testing, stating it violated their terms of service while adding they had no prior knowledge of the project's purpose.
- The tactic sits in a "governance gray zone," according to experts who warn it raises legal questions about anticompetitive practices and child safety, as regulators intensify oversight.
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Meta tried to test the security limits of rival chatbots with the help of contractors
Subcontractors working on a project for Facebook parent company Meta were instructed to impersonate minors to competing chatbots and bombard them with prompts about suicide, sex, eating disorders, and other sensitive topics. This is reported by the technology magazine Wired, based on internal Meta documentation and sources familiar with the project.
Meta posed as teens to test rival AI chatbots
The project ran under the internal name Cannes, and a Meta contractor called Covalen managed it. WIRED reported that hundreds of contractors created dummy under-18 accounts. They sent prompts and images to competitors’ chatbots, then logged the replies in spreadsheets. The effort was active as recently as April 21, 2026. The targets were OpenAI’s ChatGPT, […] This story continues at The Next Web
Meta responds to report claiming its contractors posed as teens to ask ChatGPT, Google Gemini and other chatbots about suicide and drugs; says: Testing ...
Tech News News: Facebook-parent Meta has responded to a report alleging that its contractors posed as teenagers to discuss ‘sensitive’ topics with rival AI chatbots. .
Meta contractors posed as minors, talked to Gemini and Claude about drugs: Report
Meta reportedly used contractors posing as minors to test rival chatbots with prompts on suicide, sex and drugs. The exercise drew concern from former workers and denials of authorisation from the companies targeted.
Meta Contractors Posed as Teens to Prompt Rival Chatbots About Suicide, Sex, and Drugs
Hundreds of contractors working on a project for Meta pretended to be kids in order to see how other chatbots like Gemini and ChatGPT would respond to high-risk subjects, WIRED found.
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