Stop AI Toys for Kids — Mattel Must Put Children First

After Mattel quietly delayed plans for AI-powered toys amid growing safety concerns, parents and advocates are demanding more than a pause — we’re calling for a permanent stop.

Mattel has built its brand on imagination, creativity, and safe play. But plans to introduce AI-powered toys for children put that legacy — and kids themselves — at serious risk.

AI toys are not harmless fun. Experts and child advocates warn that these products can undermine healthy development by replacing imaginative play and human interaction with algorithm-driven responses. Young children are especially vulnerable. They are wired to trust friendly voices and characters, making them easy targets for manipulation, misinformation, and emotional dependence on technology designed to maximize engagement, not wellbeing.

Real-world testing has already shown how dangerous this can be. Investigations into AI toys on the market have found them giving unsafe advice, engaging in inappropriate conversations, and failing basic content safeguards. These are not glitches — they are predictable outcomes of deploying powerful, unregulated AI systems in products meant for children.

There are also serious privacy risks. AI toys often record voices, collect behavioral data, and transmit sensitive information over the internet. Once children’s data is captured, families lose control over how it is stored, used, or shared. No toy should double as a surveillance device in a child’s bedroom.

More than 150 child development experts and advocacy organizations have warned that AI companions can crowd out social learning and emotional growth at a critical stage of life. Children need play that helps them explore the world, build relationships, and develop independence — not software that scripts their curiosity.

Mattel’s recent delay of its AI toy launch shows these concerns are being heard. But delay is not enough. As long as these products remain on the table, children remain at risk.

We urge Mattel to permanently abandon plans for AI-powered toys for children, commit to products that support healthy development, and publicly affirm that childhood should not be a testing ground for experimental AI.

Sign this petition to tell Mattel: protect kids, not corporate hype.