EU Kids Act draft would strip companion chatbots of emotion and memory for under-18s

Sep 17, 2026 · Issue 7 · 5 sources, 5 articles

Under the draft, companion chatbots could not show emotions or remember earlier conversations with users under 18. Analyses say this would remove the very feature that makes Character.AI appealing to teenagers.

Who is affected and how

parent

The teen version of AI companion apps may be noticeably more limited, so it is worth talking to the child about this in advance.

student

Popular companion apps may lose their personal feel in teen mode.

edtech company

Companion-style AI products for under-18s will need their emotion and memory features redesigned.

Sources

• The EU's draft Kids Act would strip companion chatbots of emotion and memory for under-18stheclarity.today · Sep 17, 2026
• The EU Kids Act Would Ban Companion Chatbots From Hooking Minorsstartup fortune · Sep 18, 2026
• The EU Kids Act Would Ban Companion Chatbots From Hooking Minors - Startup Fortunestartupfortune.com · Sep 18, 2026
• EU Kids Act strips the feature that made Character.AI work for teenagersmartin cid magazine · Sep 19, 2026
• EU Kids Act strips the feature that made Character.AI work for teenagers – Martin Cid Magazinemartincid.com · Sep 19, 2026

Machine-generated summary based on the titles and excerpts of the source articles. The facts come from the linked article.