Advocacy Groups Urge Parents to Avoid AI Toys This Holiday Season

AI chatbots can foster obsessive use, explicit conversations, and unsafe behaviors

Associated Press

Nov 20, 2025 — 5 min read

Photo by The Public Interest Network showing artificial intelligence-powered toys tested by consumer advocates at PIRG by Rory Erlich/The Public Interest Network

Nov. 20, 2025 (AP) – They’re cute, even cuddly, and promise learning and companionship — but artificial intelligence toys are not safe for kids, according to children’s and consumer advocacy groups urging parents not to buy them during the holiday season.

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These toys, marketed to kids as young as 2 years old, are generally powered by AI models that have already been shown to harm children and teenagers, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, according to an advisory published Thursday by the children’s advocacy group Fairplay and signed by more than 150 organizations and individual experts such as child psychiatrists and educators.

“The serious harms that AI chatbots have inflicted on children are well-documented, including fostering obsessive use, having explicit sexual conversations, and encouraging unsafe behaviors, violence against others, and self-harm,” Fairplay said.

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AI AP OpenAI ChatGPT Fairplay Curio Keyi Technologies Rachel Franz Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Dana Suskind China Sneh Vaswani Ritvik Sharma