NEW YORK — Avid Life Media, which runs infidelity site AshleyMadison.com, is currently under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, according to Reuters.
Executives from the company recently revealed to the news service the state of the company after the breach and subsequent legal fallout, and how they plan to revive the site in the coming years.
Avid Life is looking to rebuild itself with new leadership after last year’s devastating hack. In April, the company hired two new executives — CEO Rob Regal and President James Millership — after former CEO Noel Biderman resigned from the company.
The execs told Reuters that the company lost more than 25 percent of its revenue after the fallout and now faces numerous U.S. and Canadian class-action consumer lawsuits.
They also said that the Toronto-based company is the focus of an “ongoing” FTC investigation.
The exec shared a report by consulting firm Ernst & Young that found AshleyMadison.com had used fembots to impersonate women and engage men subscribers.
Reuters said Avid Life does not know whether the use of fembots is critical to the FTC's focus or not.
The FTC has remained silent as whether it is probing Avid Life.
But it would not be the first time the regulator has taken up the issue of bots in adult entertainment.
JDI Dating, in October 2014 paid $616,000 as part of an FTC settlement for using fembots.
JDI Dating, which operates 18 websites such as CupidsWand.com, FlirtCrowd.com and FindMeLove.com, never admitted to any of the wrongdoing alleged by the FTC.
Industry attorney Corey D. Silverstein recently wrote a piece for XBIZ World on the FTC and how the agency continues to make its presence felt.