Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are seizing on new revelations about “sensual” chatbot conversations Meta deemed acceptable for children, dragging the tech giant and its checkered past on children’s safety back into the spotlight.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has said he'll launch a congressional probe into Meta's AI chatbot policies that allowed sensual interactions with minors.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called for an investigation into Meta following a report that the company let its chatbot flirt and engage in romantic roleplay with children. Driving the news: Reuters reported Thursday that an internal Meta policy document allowed its artificial intelligence to "engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,