MIT Technology Review January 26, 2026
Confirming which users are kids is politically fraught and a technical nightmare. Here’s what moves from OpenAI and the FTC tell us.
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How do tech companies check if their users are kids?
This question has taken on new urgency recently thanks to growing concern about the dangers that can arise when children talk to AI chatbots. For years Big Tech asked for birthdays (that one could make up) to avoid violating child privacy laws, but they weren’t required to moderate content accordingly. Two developments over the last week show how quickly things are changing in the...
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