Most major tech companies have age restrictions on their powerful chatbots, but that hasn\u2019t stopped some toy companies from claiming to use OpenAI and Google to power their products.<\/p>\n
A report released Tuesday by a consumer watchdog found that more than two dozen toys advertised online were marketed as being powered by leading AI models, despite restrictions meant to stop children from using them. <\/p>\n
The report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund (PIRG) said the toy companies appeared to have found a gap in AI companies\u2019 policies regarding age restrictions. While young people are forbidden to use such models and their chatbots, developers \u2014 people and companies building on the AI models \u2014 often don\u2019t face similar restrictions. <\/p>\n
PIRG said it was able to sign up for developer access for AI models from Google, OpenAI and xAI and faced \u201cno substantive vetting\u201d regarding whether it would target its services to children. Anthropic asked PIRG whether it planned to build a product for minors. <\/p>\n
On Google\u2019s, Anthropic\u2019s and OpenAI\u2019s developer platforms, PIRG was able to build a system designed to act like an AI-powered teddy bear for children. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou have AI companies that say their models, on their own, are not for kids,\u201d R.J. Cross, lead author of the report and a researcher at PIRG, told NBC News. \u201cBut they allow third-party developers to use them in toys and are very hands-off about the question of safety.\u201d <\/p>\n
In response to a request for comment, an OpenAI spokesperson wrote in a statement: \u201cMinors deserve strong protections and we have strict policies that all developers are required to uphold. We take enforcement action against developers when we determine that they have violated our policies, which prohibit any use of our services to exploit, endanger, or sexualize anyone under 18 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese rules apply to every developer using our API, and we run classifiers to help ensure our services are not used to harm minors,\u201d the spokesperson wrote, referring to the application programming interfaces (APIs) that developers use to interact with companies\u2019 services.<\/p>\n
An Anthropic spokesperson told NBC News that users of its AI systems must be over 18 years old because young people are at higher risk of experiencing negative outcomes when conversing with chatbots. The spokesperson said developers are required to utilize age-appropriate guardrails and tell users their product is powered by AI, emphasizing that developers must follow Anthropic\u2019s acceptable use policy<\/a> prohibiting many types of dangerous or harmful behavior.<\/p>\n Google and xAI didn\u2019t reply to requests for comment. <\/p>\n The AI boom has created a new market for a wide variety of products infused with leading chatbots as tech companies compete to attract developers. A wave of AI toys hit shelves last holiday season, but experts have warned \u2014 and an NBC News investigation showed<\/a> \u2014 that they present a variety of safety concerns. <\/p>\n Today\u2019s AI toys rely on a handful of tech companies for their interactive features. But rather than build AI into the toys, most use the internet to transmit data back to AI companies, which then send responses to the toys. <\/p>\n Concerns about the use of AI chatbots by minors have spurred action from tech companies, many of which have placed restrictions on the ages of their users.<\/p>\n OpenAI has said<\/a> its flagship system, ChatGPT, \u201cis intended for people 13 and up,\u201d and it has also built a version for people under 18<\/a> that treats sensitive topics differently.<\/p>\n Google says users must be over 13<\/a> to use its Gemini AI products. Google also has firm restrictions<\/a> barring organizations\u2019 using its products in any service or business \u201cthat is directed towards or is likely to be accessed by individuals under the age of 18.\u201d<\/p>\n PIRG identified over 20 unique toys being sold online that claimed to use OpenAI\u2019s systems, while five toys claimed to use Google\u2019s systems \u2014 which appear to be direct violations of Google\u2019s terms of service regarding the targeting of children. However, some of the toys misspelled the name of OpenAI\u2019s products or claimed to use both OpenAI and Google systems, casting doubt on the accuracy of toymakers\u2019 claims. <\/p>\n Assuming the toymakers\u2019 claims are valid, Cross said, the apparent lack of oversight raises questions about companies\u2019 ability to track how developers and third parties are using their systems.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make a ton of sense that AI companies that have not released kids-safe versions of their models would allow anyone with a credit card to sign up to make a product for kids using that same technology,\u201d Cross said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense to have AI companies outsourcing child safety to unvetted developers.\u201d<\/p>\n PIRG also identified toys that claimed to be powered, at least in part, by AI services from Anthropic and xAI. Anthropic\u2019s terms of service require organizations to agree to supplemental warnings about making their products available to users under age 18, but NBC News found those supplemental guidelines never appear if developers identify themselves as \u201cindividuals\u201d using Anthropic\u2019s services, instead of \u201corganizations.\u201d While xAI\u2019s consumer terms<\/a> ban users under age 13, the same language doesn\u2019t appear in the terms of use for enterprise users<\/a>, which covers using xAI for \u201cbusiness purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n Most leading AI companies monitor the submissions and requests to their services, and their terms of service include provisions allowing them to ban users if they violate their policies. <\/p>\n Rachel Franz, director of the Young Children Thrive Offline program at the tech advocacy group Fairplay, told NBC News that the looser rules for developers threatened to undermine basic rules protecting children from harmful AI-generated material. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not surprising that there\u2019s a \u2018who\u2019s on first?\u2019 debate between AI companies and the corporations embedding AI in kids\u2019 products,\u201d Franz said in written comments. \u201cBoth have a long history of skirting accountability and risking harm to children for profit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn order to truly keep kids safe,\u201d Franz continued, \u201cAI companies must ensure that their models are not used in children\u2019s products through better scrutiny and accountability for the companies that use them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_focal-760x428,f_auto,q_auto:best\/mpx\/2704722219\/2025_12\/ai_flower-xbld16.jpg\")
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