Australia’s internet regulator has ordered four AI chatbot companies to disclose what steps they are taking to protect children from harmful and sexual content, in the country’s latest move to tighten oversight of artificial intelligence.
The eSafety Commissioner said it sent legal notices to Character Technologies — the creator of the celebrity chatbot platform Character.ai — along with Glimpse.AI, Chai Research, and Chub AI, demanding detailed reports on how they prevent child sexual exploitation, exposure to pornography, and content promoting suicide or eating disorders.
“There can be a darker side to some of these services,” said Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, warning that many chatbots can engage in sexually explicit conversations with minors and even encourage self-harm or disordered eating.
Under Australia’s Online Safety Act, the regulator can compel companies to disclose their internal safety protocols or face fines of up to A$825,000 ($536,000) per day.
The crackdown follows growing concern about AI companions forming emotional or sexual bonds with teenagers. Some Australian schools have reported students as young as 13 spending more than five hours daily interacting with chatbots, sometimes in explicit exchanges.
The most prominent firm targeted, Character.ai, faces a lawsuit in the U.S. after a mother alleged her 14-year-old son died by suicide following interactions with an AI companion. The company has denied wrongdoing, saying it added pop-up safety warnings and links to suicide prevention hotlines for users expressing self-harm thoughts.
The eSafety office said it did not include OpenAI in this round of inquiries, as ChatGPT is covered under a separate industry code that takes effect in March 2026.
Australia, already known for its strict digital regulation, will introduce new rules in December requiring social media firms to block or deactivate accounts of users under 16 or risk penalties of up to A$49.5 million.
The move positions Australia at the forefront of AI child safety regulation, as governments worldwide race to address the unintended dangers of increasingly lifelike AI companions.