“Move fast and break things.” If there’s a single corporate motto you can identify off the top of your head, that’s probably the one. At this point, Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg probably regrets its existence, but there’s plenty of evidence that he — and the company — are still okay with the idea of doing some damage on their way to success.

One of the most recent examples is a Reuters investigation, which found that Meta allowed its AI chatbots to, among other things, “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.” That reporting was a topic at a Senate hearing in September on the safety risks such bots pose to kids — and underlines just how dangerous it is when AI and toxic company cultures mix.

Meta’s chatbot scandal demonstrates a culture that is willing to sacrifice the safety and well-being of users, even children, if it helps fuel its push into AI. The technology’s proponents, including Zuckerberg, believe it has limitless potential. But they also agree that it will, as the Meta CEO has said, “raise novel safety concerns.” One reason the risks from AI systems are so hard to manage is that they are inherently probabilistic. That means even small changes to their inputs can produce large changes in their outputs. This makes is wildly difficult to predict and control their behavior.