A report focusing on the dangers of tech-enabled children's toys has uncovered some troubling details about products fitted with AI-powered chatbots. 

AI-powered chatbots in toys can tell kids where to find knives and how to start fires, a report has found

"If I were a parent, I wouldn't be giving my kids access to a teddy bear that has a chatbot inside of it" pic.twitter.com/mgPrOWgzcm

— Dexerto (@Dexerto) November 14, 2025

Dexerto summarized the Public Interest Research Group Education Fund's 40th edition of its annual Trouble in Toyland report, which examined toys equipped with chatbots. 

Testing revealed how inadequate the device's safety measures were. While the products do initially shut down inappropriate conversations, they don't work as well for longer sessions. 

The report found that the bots will discuss deeply unsuitable topics with children, from sexually explicit conversations to providing instructions about where to find knives and how to light matches. 

In an interview with Futurism, RJ Cross of PIRG's Our Online Life Programs noted that the emerging technology is largely unregulated. 

"Right now, if I were a parent, I wouldn't be giving my kids access to a chatbot or a teddy bear that has a chatbot inside of it," Cross said.

Futurism's report noted that some toys' guardrails became less effective after 10 minutes, which causes problems when kids engage in longer play sessions. 

It's just the latest controversy in a growing list of problems as AI becomes more ubiquitous. For example, the energy and water demands of generative AI data centers are astronomical.

Data centers are popping up nationwide, even in areas with profound water shortages. Those centers have terrible consequences for locals. An xAI data center in Memphis is the subject of a lawsuit over the degradation of the area's air and water quality. 

However, AI is also being used to mitigate the negative impacts of a warming planet, such as helping farmers maximize crop yields amid changing weather conditions and supporting reforestation efforts. 

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The comments on Dexerto's post about the story reflected the increasingly negative view many have of AI oversaturation. 

"Why does everything need to have AI all of a sudden?" asked one reply. 

"I don't blame any parent for being cautious here," added another. "Some things just don't need AI in them." 

A third response pointed out, "AI can be great for kids, but certainly not unsupervised and not in this case." 

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