AI Toys Weekly: The Screen-Free Companion Boom, a Chatbot Crackdown & Smarter Learning

Welcome to AI Toys Weekly, our Monday round-up of what is new — and what actually matters — in the fast-moving world of AI-powered toys. For the week commencing 29 June 2026, three stories deserve a parent's attention: a boom in screen-free "companion" toys, a regulatory crackdown on chatbot toys gathering pace on both sides of the Atlantic, and fresh signals about what AI really means for the way children learn.

As always, we have only featured products we have confirmed are in stock on Amazon UK at the time of writing, and every recommendation comes with the honest caveats as well as the praise.

New on the shelves: the screen-free companion boom

If one theme is defining 2026's new AI toys, it is companionship without a screen. On 14 June, Shenzhen-based Haivivi launched BubblePal, a small AI pendant that clips onto any soft toy and turns it into a talking companion with emotion recognition and long-term memory, pitched at children aged three to eight. Days later, Nasdaq-listed Jinxin Technology promoted its own Bululu and Damoon plush AI companions, citing industry figures that China's AI toy market will top RMB 38 billion in 2026 — and that online sales of screen-free plush AI devices jumped 276% year on year in the first quarter. In the United States, education firm KIDZ AI signed a deal on 3 June with robotics maker XuanYuan to bring AI companion robots into classrooms and after-school clubs.

The appeal is obvious: parents want the conversation and storytelling without yet another tablet. The caution is equally obvious, and we come to it below. One emotional-companion robot you can actually buy in the UK today is the Eilik, a palm-sized desktop bot with expressive eyes and animated reactions that respond to touch and movement. It behaves more like an interactive desk pet than an open-ended chatbot, which — for younger children especially — is no bad thing.

Around £298 — Check the price of the Eilik robot on Amazon UK →

What AI is doing to the toy box

The louder story this fortnight was scrutiny — and it is moving fast. On 24 June, US Senators John Curtis and Adam Schiff introduced the bipartisan SAFE KIDS Act, which would require AI chatbot providers to build in child-safety-by-design, offer real parental controls, ban advertising aimed at children, stop the sale of children's data without consent, and submit to independent child-safety audits. It lands alongside a wave of state action: New York has passed what Common Sense Media calls "landmark" protections, California's SB 87 proposes a five-year moratorium on chatbot toys, and Florida became the first state to sue OpenAI directly.

In the UK the direction of travel is much the same. On 22 June, Ofcom confirmed it has begun structured research into AI chatbot services — including ChatGPT, Grok and others — under its Online Safety Act duties, examining how children sign up, what safety controls exist, and how the bots respond to prompts. Ministers have also signalled new restrictions for under-16s that would capture "romantic companion" AI chatbots, using powers in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. And a University of Cambridge analysis, summarised in the Journal of Medical Internet Research on 2 June, urged clearer regulation, transparent privacy policies and proper labelling so parents can judge what they are actually buying. We unpack the biggest industry shift — conversational AI reaching household names — in our Mattel x OpenAI explainer.

The practical takeaway for parents has not changed: favour toys with clear parental controls and transparent data practices, and be wary of open-ended chatbots aimed at very young children. A good example of transparent, parent-friendly play is the Learning Resources Botley 2.0 — a screen-free coding robot the child programmes themselves with a simple remote. There is no microphone, no cloud account and nothing listening in, so the child is firmly in charge of what it does.

Around £68 — Check the price of the Botley 2.0 set on Amazon UK →

For more on this, see our guides on whether AI toys are safe for children and smart-toy privacy in the UK.

What AI means for how children learn

There was important news on the "does it actually help?" question too — and it is close to home. From September 2026, relationships, sex and health education in English secondary schools will, for the first time, include critical thinking about AI and chatbots, deepfakes and misinformation. It is a clear sign that AI literacy now matters as much as old-fashioned online stranger-danger. Meanwhile, new Oxford University Press research with almost 4,000 UK 13- to 18-year-olds found teenagers deeply divided over what counts as acceptable AI use for schoolwork, with only 15% feeling they had been given enough guidance. For context, Ofcom's latest figures show 99% of UK children aged 8–17 are online, and AI tools are increasingly popular among the older ones.

Not everyone is convinced AI belongs in childhood at all. At the ARC 2026 conference, actor and campaigner Sophie Winkleman argued forcefully for a "paper-first" classroom, pointing to evidence that pupils working on paper can outperform those glued to screens. The research picture is more nuanced — well-designed AI tutors can genuinely accelerate learning — but one finding is remarkably consistent: outcomes are far better when a parent or teacher stays in the loop, rather than leaving a device to do the teaching.

That is why we keep steering families towards toys that make children do the thinking, rather than simply talk at them. The Sphero indi is a screenless robot that four- to eight-year-olds direct using coloured tiles, learning cause and effect and early logic without an app or a screen in sight. For older, more curious builders, the budget-friendly Tobbie the Self-Guiding AI Robot is a build-it-yourself kit that uses simple infrared "senses" to follow a path — a hands-on way to show a child how a robot actually decides what to do next.

Around £156 — Check the price of the Sphero indi on Amazon UK →

Around £30 — Check the price of the Tobbie AI Robot on Amazon UK →

You can dig deeper in our guide to how AI toys are changing education.

This week's smart buys (in stock now)

Prices are correct at the time of writing (29 June 2026) and change often, so always check the live figure on Amazon before buying. As an Amazon Associate, AIToys.co.uk earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Frequently asked questions

Are screen-free companion toys safer than AI chatbot toys?

They are usually easier to feel confident about, yes. Screen-free toys that the child controls — coding robots, tile-driven bots and the like — typically have no open-ended conversation, no always-on microphone and no cloud account, which removes much of what worries regulators about chatbot toys. Open-ended AI companions can be wonderful, but they deserve closer scrutiny of their parental controls and data practices. Our full safety guide walks through what to look for.

Will AI chatbot toys be banned in the UK?

Not outright, at least not yet. UK policy so far focuses on bringing AI chatbots within existing online-safety rules and restricting certain features for under-16s, rather than a blanket ban. Ofcom has begun formally researching chatbot services under the Online Safety Act, and ministers have signalled tighter rules ahead. The sensible approach for parents is to choose carefully now rather than wait for the law to catch up.

What is a good age to start with AI and coding toys?

Screen-free coding robots such as Sphero indi suit children from around four, simple programmable robots like Botley work well from five, and build-it-yourself kits such as Tobbie are better from about eight. Always check the manufacturer's stated age range and any small-parts warnings before buying.

That is your lot for this week. We will be back next Monday with the latest launches, debates and deals. In the meantime, browse our Christmas 2026 AI toy gift guide for more in-depth picks.