EU's Kids Act puts AI chatbots behind an age gate for under-15s

AI chatbots are about to get the same treatment as TikTok in Europe. The EU Kids Act, which Ursula von der Leyen and tech chief Henna Virkkunen are due to present on Thursday, puts AI chatbots on the same list as social media, video-sharing sites and online games. Every service on that list would have to age-verify at sign-up. Nobody under 15 would be allowed an independent account.

The draft reported by Reuters sets out a tiered model. Under-3s get no access at all. Ages 3–12 are limited to parent-controlled accounts on child-friendly services. Ages 13–14 get "introductory" accounts with limited contacts and strict time limits. Platforms would also have to drop addictive design and harmful feeds, build parental controls and child-friendly reporting tools, and pay supervisory fees that fund the regulators policing them. The draft's framing: "Access by technology companies to our children must be restricted, not the other way around."

This is only a proposal for now. The Commission still has to negotiate it with member states and the European Parliament, and the details could change before Thursday. It also comes as the UK pushes its own under-16 social media ban and curbs on chatbots.

Why it matters: once chatbots are regulated like social media, OpenAI, Google and Meta need age verification and teen-safe modes for Europe's 450M people, and other regulators tend to copy Brussels.