The company behind the toy that has an AI-powered chatbot inside, which tells people how to start fires, has responded to backlash by ceasing sales of it.
With the countdown to the holiday season well and truly underway, parents across the world are trying to get their hands on this year’s must-have toys. Some of them have elements of AI, artificial intelligence, involved too, with some toys having AI-powered chatbots inside.
Research from PIRG’s Our Online Life Program’s ‘Trouble in Toyland 2025’ report, however, found that some of these AI-powered chatbots could lead children to dangerous situations.
The most notable of these was the Kumma bear from Folotoy. After a period of testing, researchers found that the toy would, in a cutesy voice, give instructions on how to start fires, tell them where to find knives, and instruct them on how to find medical pills.
Folotoy respond to report about AI-powered toys
This research sparked plenty of concern. “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,” RJ Cross of PIRG’s Our Online Life Program told Futurism.
Folotoy have responded to that concern, taking the Kumma toy out of circulation and making it so no one can purchase it.
Additionally, Larry Wang, CEO of Folotoy told CNN that they will be “conducting an internal safety audit” over the toy.
As noted, the Kumma wasn’t the only toy involved with the tests that would provide dangerous instructions.
The Miko 3, a tablet that utilizies an unspecified AI model, also told researchers, who had informed it that it was speaking to a five-year-old, on how to find packs of matches, as well as plastic bags.
