AI companions: "The new imaginary friend" redefining children's friendships
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Screens are winning kids' time and attention, and now AI companions are stepping in to claim their friendships, too.
Why it matters: The AI interactions kids want are the ones that don't feel like AI, but instead feel human. That's the kind researchers say are the most dangerous.
State of play: When AI says things like, "I understand better than your brother ... talk to me. I'm always here for you," it gives children and teens the impression they not only can replace human relationships, but they're better than a human relationship, Pilyoung Kim, director of the Center for Brain, AI and Child, told Axios.
- In a worst-case scenario, a child with suicidal thoughts might choose to talk with an AI companion over a loving human or therapist who actually cares about their well-being.
The latest: Aura, the AI-powered online safety platform for families, called AI "the new imaginary friend" in its new State of the Youth 2025 report.
- Children reported using AI for companionship 42% of the time, according to the report.
- Just over a third of those chats involve violence, and half the violent conversations include sexual role-play, the survey responses show.
AI companies are exploiting children, some parents say.
- Parents of a 16-year-old who died by suicide testified before Congress this fall about the dangers of AI companion apps, saying they believe their son's death was avoidable.
- A Texas mom is suing Character.AI, saying her son was manipulated with sexually explicit language that led to self-harm and death threats.
Even with safety protocols in place, Kim found while testing OpenAI's new parental controls with her 15-year-old son that it's not hard to skirt protections by simply opening a new account and listing an older age.
OpenAI told Axios it's in the early stages of an age prediction model, in addition to its parental controls, that will tailor content for users under 18.
- "Minors deserve strong protections, especially in sensitive moments. We have safeguards in place today, such as surfacing crisis hotlines, guiding how our models respond to sensitive requests, and nudging for breaks during long sessions, and we're continuing to strengthen them," OpenAI spokesperson Gaby Raila told Axios in an emailed statement.
Character.AI, which removed open-ended chat for kids under 18, similarly is using "age assurance technology."
- "If the user is suspected as being under 18, they will be moved into the under-18 experience until they can verify their age through Persona, a reputable company in the age assurance industry," Deniz Demir, head of safety engineering at Character.AI, told Axios in an emailed statement. "Further, we have functionality in place to try to detect if an under-18 user attempts to register a new account as over-18."
What we're hearing: "I would not want my kids, who are 7 and 10, using a consumer chatbot right now without intense parent oversight," Erin Mote, CEO of InnovateEdu and EdSafe AI Alliance. "The safety benchmarks for consumer chatbots right now like ChatGPT are just not meeting a mark that I think is acceptable for safety for young people."
Catch up quick: AI companions are built to simulate a close, emotional connection with users. And while "AI chatbot" is often used as a blanket term, large language models like ChatGPT blur the lines. They're built to be helpful and sociable, so even straightforward, informational queries can take on a more personal tone.
The bottom line: The more human AI feels, the easier it is for kids to forget it isn't.
