Children’s and consumer advocates are urging parents to skip AI-enabled toys this holiday season, citing evidence that chatbot-powered devices can expose kids to sexual content, promote unsafe behavior and displace healthy imaginative play. In an advisory signed by more than 150 groups and experts, nonprofit Fairplay warned that models akin to ChatGPT remain ill-suited for young users and largely unregulated. U.S. PIRG echoed the concerns in its annual “Trouble in Toyland” report after testing several products, one of which was later withdrawn. Toy makers including Curio Interactive and India’s Miko say they’ve built guardrails, proprietary models and parental controls to mitigate risks, while Beijing-based Keyi did not comment. With some AI toys gaining traction in Asia and creeping onto U.S. shelves, the debate underscores a widening gap between rapid product rollout and child-safety standards.
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