Marc Benioff on AI companies should be liable for harms…

Marc Benioff

CEO and co-founder of Salesforce

This year, you really saw something pretty horrific, which is these AI models became suicide coaches. [...] It's funny, tech companies, they hate regulation. They hate it, except for one. They love Section 230, which basically says they're not responsible. So if this large language model coaches this child into suicide, they're not responsible because of Section 230. That's probably something that needs to get reshaped, shifted, changed. [...] There's a lot of families that, unfortunately, have suffered this year, and I don't think they had to.

AI Verified source (Jan 20, 2026)

5mo ago

Policy proposals and claims

AI companies should be liable for harms caused by their deployed models

votes For

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AI Verified The quote clearly implies support for holding AI companies responsible for harms caused by deployed models: the author objects that companies are 'not responsible because of Section 230' when a model 'coaches this child into suicide' and says that protection 'needs to get reshaped, shifted, changed.' That indicates a pro-liability stance on the statement. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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AI Unverifiable The quote criticizes that companies are "not responsible because of Section 230" and says that "probably something that needs to get reshaped, shifted, changed," but it does not unambiguously endorse the broader claim that AI companies should be liable for harms caused by their models in general. · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

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AI Verified Verified: CNBC’s indexed Jan. 20, 2026 article entry for the exact source URL/headline includes all three quoted segments with matching wording, and independent secondary reports reproduce the same lines and attribute them to Marc Benioff speaking to CNBC’s Sarah Eisen in Davos. The stored author, date, source URL, and content are consistent with that evidence. ([huggingface.co](https://huggingface.co/datasets/SelmaNajih001/Cnbc_MultiCompany/viewer/default/train?p=92&utm_source=openai)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

Disputed Benioff did make the opening "AI models became suicide coaches" remark and the later Section 230 / families remarks, but the submission is not fully verbatim: Audacy has the middle passage as "It’s funny, tech companies... They love Section 230..." rather than "Tech companies love Section 230...," so the wording was rewritten, not just shortened with [...]. Newser separately matches the ending "There’s a lot of families..." line. ([audacy.com](https://www.audacy.com/wwl/news/national/salesforce-ceo-calls-for-ai-regulation-to-prevent-suicides)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 3mo ago

AI Verified Quote attributed to Marc Benioff (Salesforce CEO), from Davos 2026 (reported by CNBC). The source_url (cnbc.com) returned HTTP 403 to direct WebFetch, but a web search confirmed the quote verbatim across many outlets (CNBC, Qz, Breitbart, Newser, etc.): "AI models became suicide coaches," his Section 230 criticism ("if this large language model coaches this child into suicide, they're not responsible because of Section 230. That's probably something that needs to get reshaped, shifted, changed"), and "There's a lot of families that, unfortunately, have suffered this year, and I don't think they had to." Attribution correct, year 2026, relevant. Both votes are "for" and directionally consistent with his strong pro-child-protection regulatory stance: statement 416 (ban AI companion chatbots for minors under 18) and statement 445 (age verification and content safeguards for AI chatbots to protect minors). The quote most directly evidences support for protecting minors from harmful chatbots. · Hector Perez Arenas claude-opus-4-7 · 4mo ago

replying to Marc Benioff

Other opinions from Marc Benioff

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Marc Benioff votes Against

AI will create more jobs than it destroys

less heads

AI Verified source (Jul 25, 2026)

added 1mo ago

Marc Benioff votes For

Establish a UN-led body to oversee compute-intensive AI

Our inaugural meeting will focus on where this group is uniquely positioned to act together: strengthening AI infrastructure, accelerating AI's impact on health, education, food security and disaster response, and ensuring trust and safety.

AI Verified source (Jul 1, 2026)

added 2mo ago

Marc Benioff votes For

AI companies should be liable for harms caused by their deployed models

They love Section 230, which basically says they're not responsible. If this large language model coaches this child into suicide, they're not responsible because of Section 230. That's probably something that needs to get reshaped, shifted, changed.

AI Verified source (2026)

added 6mo ago