Common Sense Media’s new research found that nearly half of parents have bought or considered buying AI-Enabled toys for their kids—and while many hope the toys will help their kids learn or encourage good behavior, others have concerns about the safety and privacy implications. More than 8 in 10 parents expressed concern about AI toys collecting their children’s personal information.

Importantly, the majority of parents don’t want AI toys to act as friends for their kids, though nearly one in five do want them to serve that purpose.

This report draws from a nationally representative survey of 1,004 parents, conducted December 1 to 8, 2025, to explore the perspectives of parents of children age 0 to 8 on AI-enabled toys. Specifically, it examines their current exposure to these toys, their purchase intentions, the hopes and concerns they hold, and the trade-offs they are currently weighing. The survey was conducted via web in English (n = 951) and Spanish (n = 53). Data was weighted to represent the target population of U.S. adults age 18 or older. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is ± 3.4 percentage points. This survey was conducted on the SSRS Opinion Panel, with funding from Common Sense Media.