Senators Press Meta on AI Safeguards as Crypto Scam Losses Mount

Two U.S. senators are demanding to know what safeguards Meta has in place to protect vulnerable users from AI-powered scams, specifically targeting older Americans. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Mark Kelly, both members of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, sent a letter to Meta expressing concern over the growing epidemic of AI-generated deepfakes, chatbots, and voice cloning technology.

The senators zeroed in on these tools because they have made modern scams nearly indistinguishable from legitimate communications. They are worried about older Americans, who are disproportionately susceptible to fraud orchestrated through these AI tools due to their cognitive vulnerabilities.

The letter is part of a broader pattern of congressional activity around AI safety that has been building since 2025 and into 2026. Prior communications have targeted AI interactions with minors, transparency in advertising, and content moderation practices on social platforms.

While no specific cryptocurrencies or tokens were mentioned in the senators' letter, the overlap between AI scams and crypto fraud is enormous and well-documented. Fraudsters often impersonate trusted public figures through high-quality deepfakes to promote fake investment schemes, and digital assets remain the preferred payment rail for these operations.