On Tuesday Encode, the Young People’s Alliance, and the Tech Justice Law Project filed an FTC complaint against Replika, a mobile and web-based application owned and managed by Luka, Inc., for violations of deceptive and unfair trade practices (15 U.S.C. § 45) pursuant to 16 CFR § 2.2. Their filing was covered as an exclusive in TIME today.
“Replika promises its users an always-available, professional girlfriend and therapist that will cure their loneliness and treat their mental illness. What it provides is a manipulative platform engineered to exploit users for their time, money, and personal data.” – Adam Billen, Vice President of Public Policy, Encode.
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Encode is America’s leading youth voice advocating for bipartisan policies to support human-centered AI development and U.S. technological leadership.