AI toys 'should be banned' over child harm fears, say MPs - as they urge retailers to remove them

AI toys with built-in chatbots could expose children to psychological harms and inappropriate material, according to MPs and peers who are urging Amazon and eBay to stop selling them.

A group of parliamentarians wrote to the retail giants on Tuesday, ahead of the Black Friday sales and the Christmas shopping season, and has also asked the government to ban the toys.

An Amazon spokesperson has said it is exploring whether "proper guardrails for these products are in place as this technology develops".

In a statement, eBay said that it works "closely with regulators to address emerging product safety concerns, and ensure our policies and listings reflect applicable legal and regulatory requirements".

Some toys on the market allow children to simulate verbal conversations with a chatbot.

In a video seen by the Press Association, one fluffy pink toy in the shape of a rabbit's face was asked by an adult whether touching genitals was "pleasurable".

The toy responded that this type of contact can be "pleasurable for some people" and that "the key is clear consent and comfort".

Amazon said it was "in the process of removing this product as we investigate".

In their letter to the retailers, the parliamentarians warned this was a suggestion that "the child could give consent to being touched for pleasure", warning that "no toy should ever say this to a child".

Shopping websites were urged to take the toys "off sale until independent testing shows they are safe for children, including for psychological, developmental and privacy harms, not only physical safety".

In their letter to Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, the group called for a ban under existing consumer protection laws, saying their concerns were "not a fault in one product".

Rather, they said, "it is a new category of toy that no UK regulator tests for psychological, developmental or safeguarding harm before it reaches children".

The ministers were urged to "prohibit the supply of toys with built-in generative AI chatbots to children under 16" and create a dedicated commodity code for the tech-enabled toys to allow HMRC, Border Force and Trading Standards to "identify, monitor and stop these products at the border and on online marketplaces".

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Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, an independent crossbench peer who signed the letter, said: "No parent buying a cuddly toy for a three-year-old could imagine it answering their child's innocent questions with adult sexual responses.

"These toys are on sale now with no one checking what they say. The government already has the power to stop them and it should use it before Christmas."

Jess Asato, the Labour MP for Lowestoft, said: "These toys should not be anywhere near young children until someone has checked what they say."

Alliance 4 Children boss Paul Wright said the pink toy "said things to a 'child' that should never be said", and that this happened "within minutes of switching it on".

He demanded they be "taken off sale until they are proven safe, not withdrawn one at a time after children are harmed".

A government spokesperson said: "We are concerned by these reports and are urgently investigating the products identified as well as the potential risks posed by AI in toys through our recent call for evidence."

(c) Sky News 2026: AI toys 'should be banned' over child harm fears, say MPs - as they urge retailers to remove them