Never waste a good lemon

Why would they damage their own reputation and risk liability for attention?

You are off by a light year.

It doesn't look like that at all. Is this really what they needed to further drive their already explosive user growth? Too clever by half.

AI's aren't controllable so they wouldn't stake their reputation on it acting a certain way. It's comparable to the conspiracy theory that the Trump assassination attempt was staged. People don't bet the farm on tools or people that are unreliable.