The main antagonist of toy story 5coming to theaters this summer, is a green frog-shaped children’s tablet called Lilypad, a cool new villain for the beloved pixar franchise. But if Pixar had been attentive, it could have used an AI children’s toy instead.
Artificially intelligent toys are seemingly everywhere, marketed online as friendly companions for children as young as three, and are still a largely unregulated category. It’s easier than ever to create an AI companion, thanks to model development programs and vibration coding. In 2026, they have become a trend of cheap trinkets lining the halls of trade shows like CES, CMMand Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair. By October 2025, there were more than 1,500 AI toy companies. registered in China and Huawei HanHan smart The plush sold 10,000 units in China in its first week. Sharp put his PokeTomo AI talking toy on sale in Japan this April.
But if you search for AI toys on Amazon, you’ll mostly find niche players like FoloToy, Alilo, Miriat, and Miko, the latter of which claims to have sold more than 700,000 units.
Consumer groups argue that AI toys, in the form of teddy bears, bunnies, sunflowers, creatures and child-friendly “robots,” need more safety barriers and stricter regulations. FoloToy’s Kumma Bear, powered by GPT-4o by OpenAI when tried by the Public Interest Research Group New Economy TeamHe gave instructions on how to light a match and find a knife, and talked about sex and drugs. Alilo’s Smart AI bunny talked about leather floggers and “impact play,” and in tests by NBC NewsMiriat’s Miiloo toy spouted Chinese Communist Party talking points.
Age-inappropriate content is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to AI toys. We are starting to see real research on the possible social impacts on children. There is a problem when technology doesn’t work, such as barriers allowing you to talk about BDSM, but RJ Cross, director of the Our Online Life program at consumer advocacy group PIRG, says that can be fixed. “Then there are the problems when technology becomes too good, like ‘I’m going to be your best friend,'” she says. like him gabbofrom AI toy maker Curio. There are real social development issues to consider with these types of toys, even if these toy companies advertise their products as superior, “screen-free” play.
