MENLO PARK, California: With scrutiny of tech platforms' impact on children intensifying, Meta Platforms is temporarily shutting down teens' access to its artificial intelligence characters, a move that comes days before the company heads to court over child safety concerns.

Meta said in a blog post that, starting in the "coming weeks," teenagers will no longer be able to use AI characters "until the updated experience is ready."

The pause applies to users who have provided a birthday indicating they are under 18, as well as "people who claim to be adults but who we suspect are teens based on our age prediction technology," the company said.

Meta, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, said teens will still have access to its broader AI assistant, but not to the AI characters feature.

The decision lands just a week before Meta is scheduled to stand trial in Los Angeles alongside TikTok and YouTube, over allegations that their apps harm children.

Concerns about the impact of AI-powered conversations on young users have been mounting, prompting similar actions elsewhere in the industry. Several companies have already restricted teen access to chatbot-style products amid fears that such interactions could negatively affect children's mental health.

Last fall, Character.AI announced a ban on teens using its AI chatbots. The company has since been hit with multiple lawsuits over child safety, including a case brought by the mother of a teenager who alleges the firm's chatbots encouraged her son to kill himself.

Meta did not specify how long the suspension of AI characters for teens would last, saying only that access would remain paused until an updated version of the experience is ready.

The move underscores the growing pressure on major technology companies to demonstrate stronger safeguards for younger users, particularly as artificial intelligence features become more immersive and conversational.