A screenshot from @hiamaliv’s Instagram (Meta)

Meta’s fake AI users are here and they’re giving everybody the creeps

The platform’s actual users are weirded out by posts documenting a fake life and fake kids.

1/3/25 11:20AM

After spending tens of billions of dollars cramming generative AI into pretty much all its products, Meta is trying to juice engagement on its platforms by creating fake AI users, posting AI-generated images of their fake lives, doing fake things.

Meet Liv, one such fake Instagram user whose profile identifies the character as a “proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller ❤️🌈. Your realest source for life’s ups & downs. Let’s chat (available in the US).”

Liv’s profile page clearly says “AI managed by Meta,” with a link to a pop-up that says, “AI character profiles are managed by Meta. Content posted may be generated by both humans and AI tools. To chat with the AI directly, use Instagram Direct.” But Liv’s posts describe her imaginary life and her imaginary children. Last January, Liv wrote:

“This year’s #WinterWonderland dance was a success!!! ❄️ Our PTA team has been planning for months and spent the last week prepping decorations, making snacks and drinks, and picking out songs for the playlist. Y’all might have even spotted Momma Liv & Rachel on the dance floor once or twice. 👀😂 #ImaginedWithAI”

Meta fake AI user - winter wonderland — (Meta/@himamaliv)

Liv also writes about her imaginary good deeds:

“Kicking off the new year in service of our community. 🤝 Leading this season’s coat drive was an honor, especially because it provided my little ones a tangible example for helping others. 👏🏾🧥#ImaginedWithAI”

Screenshot 2025-01-03 at 10.18.20 AM — (Meta/@himamaliv)

While Liv’s account shows that these posts are over a year old, Meta just recently started talking about their plans for such fake users.

Connor Hayes, Meta’s VP of product for generative AI, told the Financial Times last week:

“We expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that accounts do. They’ll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform... That’s where we see all of this going.”

A look through recent comments on Liv’s posts might give Meta pause as users have some strong feelings about these inauthentic posts: “This is so f---ing dystopian” and “This might be what pushes me off of @instagram entirely. A fake person patting itself on its fake back with a fake story about a fake coat drive for a fake charity” are among the many negative comments.

Meta already has an AI slop problem on Facebook, as content farms pump out a torrent of weird AI-generated garbage that fools some real users. While a close look at Liv’s profile clearly shows she is fake and run by Meta, not all of Liv’s posts are clearly labeled, and may fool some users. In a post from December 2023, Liv posted a video of two children walking up steps to a school, with an inspirational Michelle Obama quote. The post did not indicate that it was generated with AI or that Liv was a fake user.

“As the first half of the school year winds down, I’m throwing it back to the kiddos’ first day of school! Feeling so proud watching them blossom into their truest selves, day by day. ✊🏾💕 #ProudMom #Authenticity #InspoQuotes”

Screenshot 2025-01-03 at 10.24.15 AM — (Meta/@himamaliv)

More Tech

See all Tech

Rani Molla4h

Apple to pay Google $1 billion a year for access to AI model for Siri

Apple plans to pay Google about $1 billion a year to use the search giant’s AI model for Siri, Bloomberg reports. Google’s model — at 1.2 trillion parameters — is way bigger than Apple’s current models.

The deal aims to help the iPhone maker improve its lagging AI efforts, powering a new Siri slated to come out this spring.

Apple had previously been considering using OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, but decided in the end to go with Google as it works toward improving its own internal models. Google, which makes a much less widely sold phone, the Pixel, has succeeded in bringing consumer AI to smartphone users where Apple has failed.

Google’s antitrust ruling in September helped safeguard the two companies’ partnerships — including the more than $20 billion Google pays Apple each year to be the default search engine on its devices — as long as they aren’t exclusive.

Apple Plans to Use 1.2 Trillion Parameter Google Gemini Model to Run New Siri

Rani Molla4h

Netflix creates new made-up metric for advertisers

It’s not quite WeWork’s community-adjusted EBITDA, but it’s also not quite a real number: Netflix announced today that it has 190 million “monthly active viewers” for its lower-cost ad-supported tiers. The company came up with the metric by measuring the number of subscribers who’ve watched “at least 1 minute of ads on Netflix per month” and multiplying that by what its research assumes is the number of people in that household.

It builds on Netflix’s previous attempt at measuring ad viewership with monthly active users, which is the number of profiles that have watched ads (94 million as of May). The MAV measurement, of course, is a lot bigger, and bigger numbers are more attractive to advertisers, who are spending more and more on streaming platforms.

“After speaking to our partners, we know that what they want most is an accurate, clear, and transparent representation of who their ads are reaching,” Netflix President of Advertising Amy Reinhard explained in a press release. “Our move to viewers means we can give a more comprehensive count of how many people are actually on the couch, enjoying our can’t-miss series, films, games, and live events with friends and family.”

Netflix last reported its long-followed and more easily understood paid membership numbers at the beginning of the year, when it crossed 300 million.

Netflix’s Third Season of Ads and a Look Ahead at What's Next - About Netflix

Netflix last reported its long-followed and more easily understood paid membership numbers at the beginning of the year, when it crossed 300 million.

Rani Molla6h

Ahead of Musk’s pay package vote, Tesla’s board says they can’t make him work there full time

Ahead of Tesla’s CEO compensation vote at its annual shareholder meeting tomorrow, The Wall Street Journal did a deep dive into how Elon Musk, who stands to gain $1 trillion if he stays at Tesla and hits a number of milestones, spends his time.

Like a similar piece from The New York Times in September, this one has a lot of fun details. Read it all, but here are some to tide you over:

Musk spent so much time at xAI this summer that he held meetings there with Tesla employees.
He personally oversaw the design of a sexy chatbot named Ani, who sports pigtails and skimpy clothes and for whom “employees were compelled to turn over their biometric data” to train.
The chatbot, which users can ask to “change into lingerie or fantasize about a romantic encounter with them,” has helped boost user numbers, which are still way lower than ChatGPT’s.
Executives and board members have told top investors in the past few weeks that they can’t make Musk work at Tesla full time. Board Chair Robyn Denholm explained that in his free time, Musk “likes to create companies, and they’re not necessarily Tesla companies.”

Tesla Is Obsessed With Musk’s Pay Package. Musk Is Obsessed With AI.

Like a similar piece from The New York Times in September, this one has a lot of fun details. Read it all, but here are some to tide you over:

Musk spent so much time at xAI this summer that he held meetings there with Tesla employees.
He personally oversaw the design of a sexy chatbot named Ani, who sports pigtails and skimpy clothes and for whom “employees were compelled to turn over their biometric data” to train.
The chatbot, which users can ask to “change into lingerie or fantasize about a romantic encounter with them,” has helped boost user numbers, which are still way lower than ChatGPT’s.
Executives and board members have told top investors in the past few weeks that they can’t make Musk work at Tesla full time. Board Chair Robyn Denholm explained that in his free time, Musk “likes to create companies, and they’re not necessarily Tesla companies.”

Jon Keegan7h

Motion Picture Association to Meta: Stop saying Instagram teen content is “PG-13”

In October, Meta announced that its updated Instagram Teen Accounts would by default limit content to the “PG-13” rating.

The Motion Picture Association, which created the film rating standard, was not happy about Meta’s use of the rating, and sent the company a cease and desist letter, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The letter from MPA’s law firm reportedly said the organization worked for decades to earn the public’s trust in the rating system, and it does not want Meta’s AI-powered content moderation failures to blow back on its work:

“Any dissatisfaction with Meta’s automated classification will inevitably cause the public to question the integrity of the MPA’s rating system.”

Meta told the WSJ that it never claimed or implied the content on Instagram Teen Accounts would be certified by the MPA.

Exclusive | Motion Picture Trade Group Pans Instagram’s Use of ‘PG-13’ With Cease and Desist

“Any dissatisfaction with Meta’s automated classification will inevitably cause the public to question the integrity of the MPA’s rating system.”

Meta told the WSJ that it never claimed or implied the content on Instagram Teen Accounts would be certified by the MPA.

Rani Molla9h

Dan Ives expects “overwhelming shareholder approval” of Tesla CEO pay package

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, like prediction markets, thinks Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package will receive “overwhelming shareholder approval” at the company’s annual shareholder meeting Thursday afternoon. The Tesla bull, like the Tesla board, has maintained that approval of the performance-based pay package is integral to keeping Musk at the helm of the company, which in turn is integral to the success of the company. Ives is also confident that investors will back the proposal allowing Tesla to invest in another of Musk’s companies, xAI.

“We expect shareholders to show overwhelming support tomorrow for Musk and the xAI stake further turning Tesla into an AI juggernaut with the autonomous and robotics future on the horizon,” Ives wrote in a note this morning.

The compensation package has received pushback, including from Tesla’s sixth-biggest institutional investor, Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management, and from proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.