Emotional Dependency and Child Safety, New Regulatory Focus
September 11, 2025: US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched a comprehensive investigation into 7 global big tech and AI companies operating consumer-facing AI chatbots -- particularly to determine potential impacts of "AI Companion Chatbots" on children and adolescents. AI companion chatbots are not simple Q&A tools -- they are AI designed to form emotional relationships with users, simulating emotions, remembering conversations, and assigning characters to interact like friends, romantic partners, or mentors. Children and adolescents particularly face risk of emotional dependency intensification. FTC ordered data submission from Alphabet, Character Technologies, Instagram, Meta, OpenAI, Snap, and X.AI. Investigation items: presence of child and adolescent protection measures; data processing and personal information utilization methods; age restriction and parental notification compliance; monetization structure and advertising transparency; negative impact assessment and mitigation procedures. COPPA compliance is a key focus. The specific concerns: companion chatbots designed for emotional engagement may be particularly risky for developing adolescents whose identity formation and social skill development could be disrupted by intensive parasocial relationships with AI; the FTC investigation seeks to determine whether companies are adequately disclosing the AI nature of these relationships and whether safety measures are proportionate to the known psychological impacts.
