Dhaka, Jan. 24 -- Meta is halting teens' access to artificial intelligence characters, at least temporarily, the company said in a blog post on Friday.

Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, said that starting in the "coming weeks," teens will no longer be able to access AI characters "until the updated experience is ready"

This applies to anyone who gave Meta a birthday that makes them a minor, as well as "people who claim to be adults but who we suspect are teens based on our age prediction technology."

The move comes the week before Meta - along with TikTok and Google's YouTube - is scheduled to stand trial in Los Angeles over its apps' harms to children, reports AP.

Teens will still be able to access Meta's AI ass...