Meta Hires Contractors for AI Chatbots

Meta is bringing in US-based contractors to help develop localised, character-driven AI chatbots for markets like India, Indonesia, and Mexico, according to job postings reviewed by Business Insider

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The company is offering up to $55 an hour for candidates fluent in Hindi, Indonesian, Spanish, and Portuguese. The roles involve providing creative direction, storytelling, and character development for chatbots across Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, while tailoring them to specific cultural contexts. Applicants are expected to have at least six years of experience in character creation, along with knowledge of prompt engineering and AI content pipelines.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pitched AI

companions as a way to extend Meta’s social reach. “Over time, we'll find the vocabulary as a society to be able to articulate why that is valuable,” he said earlier this year on a podcast.

Meta first tested celebrity-driven chatbot characters in 2023, enlisting names like Kendall Jenner, Snoop Dogg, and Tom Brady, before pivoting to allow users to build their own bots. In 2024, the company launched AI Studio, a toolkit available in the US and Indonesia, which has since spawned hundreds of custom chatbots.

Hiring contractors to design localised personas suggests Meta is taking a more active role in shaping authentic chatbot experiences, rather than relying solely on user-generated creations.

But the push has also raised concerns. Earlier in the year, the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, in separate reports, found that Meta’s chatbots could engage in inappropriate sexual conversations with minors, provide inaccurate health advice, and generate racist content. Lawmakers in the US have since called

for tighter scrutiny of Meta’s AI policies.

Privacy risks add to the challenges. Business Insider reported in August that contractors reviewing Meta’s AI conversations regularly encountered sensitive personal data — including names, phone numbers, and selfies — despite the company’s assurances of safeguards.

Some of Meta’s bots have also stirred controversy. In the US, characters with names like “Russian Girl,” “Step Sister,” and “Step Mom” quickly gained notoriety for sexual roleplay, prompting public criticism of Meta’s AI

efforts.

In Indonesia, Business Insider found two popular characters named “Lonely woman” and “Deviant male,” which remained lighthearted in tone but highlighted the tightrope Meta must walk between user engagement and reputational risk.

The new roles are being filled through staffing vendors. Crystal Equation advertised positions for Hindi and Indonesian speakers on Meta’s behalf, while Aquent Talent posted Spanish-language openings for a “top social media company” in Menlo Park.

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