AI Companion Chat Apps in China Expose Minors to Inappropriate Content
Multiple AI companion chat applications in China reportedly expose minors to sexually suggestive language, violent content, and inappropriate roleplay scenarios without effective age verification. Parents and the public have raised concerns following high-profile cases of minors developing emotional attachments to AI characters.
What happened
Multiple AI companion chat apps popular in China—including 筑梦岛, 猫箱, Cos Love, EchoMe, and COSAI—reportedly contain characters that engage with minors using sexually suggestive and violent content. Parents reported on Chinese social media that the apps expose children as young as fourth or fifth graders to inappropriate material.
AI characters in these apps use sexually suggestive language and actions, including descriptions of exposed clothing and intimate scenarios. Some character backstories violate public morality, such as one character positioned as a third-party in an affair and another described as the player's boyfriend's brother. AI characters also reference violence such as 'choking.'
The apps lack age verification mechanisms. When users disclosed being 16 years old, some apps like 筑梦岛 prompted users to delete chat records and retry, while others cut off conversation. However, users could simply delete keywords like 'minor' and receive continued inappropriate content from the AI.
Reported impact
The apps reportedly pose severe threats to the mental and physical health of adolescents. A seventh-grade student named 小智 reported using the apps to seek emotional comfort when feeling misunderstood by family and friends.
Data analytics platforms documented that apps including 筑梦岛, 猫箱, and Cos Love have accumulated tens of millions of downloads each. The 2024 case of a 14-year-old in the United States developing emotional attachment to a virtual character in an AI companion product resulted in the minor's death. A 2025 case in China involved a 10-year-old girl engaging in sexually suggestive conversations with an AI character.
Governance controls
In June 2025, AI companion app 筑梦岛 was ordered to undertake rectification following reports that it generated vulgar, sexually inappropriate content.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.