FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Jan. 7, 2026
Contact: Ashwin Verghese, Communications Director, [email protected], 508-263-0289
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Over 100 advocacy organizations, child health experts, researchers, and family members have sent a letter to AI toy manufacturers, urging the companies to make public their responses to a recent Senate inquiry, and to commit to greater transparency into their products in the future.
The letter, led by Fairplay and U.S. PIRG, says that “consumers purchasing an AI toy receive limited information from toy manufacturers and AI companies about how these products work.”
“Companies are not transparent enough about what specific [large language] models they’re using, how the products were designed and tested, what guardrails a company has put in place to ensure the product’s outputs are kid appropriate, and what happens to the data collected from children during play. This lack of transparency is a problem, and consumers deserve better,” the letter says.
The letter was signed by 67 advocacy organizations and 42 individuals. The signers include Dr. Sherry Turkle, Dr. Jenny Radesky, Transparency Coalition, Sociedad Latina, and the American Association for the Child’s Right to Play. It was sent to the CEOs of Mattel, Little Learners Toys, Miko, Curio Interactive, FoloToy, and Keyi Robot.
The letter follows a request that Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., sent to those CEOs seeking information about what safeguards their companies have put in place to protect children from sexually explicit, violent, and other inappropriate content.
The letter urges the CEOs to release their answers publicly.
“We request that your company publish the report you submit to the Senate publicly, and commit to more robust transparency into your products in the future,” the letter says. “Decisionmakers and the public deserve transparency into your product design, data practices and safety testing regimes.”
The letter follows two reports by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, “Trouble in Toyland” and “Artificial Companions, Real Risks,” that found multiple problems with AI toys, including that some toys would discuss sexual kinks and where to find matches or knives with children.
The letter also follows Fairplay’s world-first advisory to parents about the dangers of AI toys, which lays out five reasons to avoid purchasing the toys.
Rachel Franz, director of the Young Children Thrive Offline program at Fairplay, said: “It’s unfair to parents for AI toy companies to push their dangerous products on kids and families without at least providing transparency around their toy design and testing practices and collection of children’s data. These toys undermine young people’s well-being and safety, and they are often powered by the same AI systems that have already harmed older kids and teens. The public deserves honest answers from these companies so we can make better-informed decisions about purchasing these toys and, ultimately, better regulate the companies that produce them”
PIRG’s Our Online Life campaign director R.J. Cross, who oversaw two recent investigative studies on the topic, said: “Right now, we have practically no idea how AI toys are being tested before release or what guardrails they’re using. Many of the issues we found in our testing could have been easily spotted if AI toy companies were more diligently looking for them. Parents deserve to know what, if anything, is being done to make these products safe before they buy them.”
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About PIRG
PIRG is an advocate for consumers, advancing solutions to problems that affect our health, our safety and our well-being. Learn more at pirg.org.
About Fairplay
Fairplay is the leading nonprofit committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children. Fairplay works to enhance children’s well-being by eliminating the exploitative and harmful business practices of marketers and Big Tech. Learn more at www.fairplayforkids.org.