An AI toy bear speaks of sex, knives and pills, a consumer group warns


A person looks at a screen displaying a website selling a Singapore-made teddy bear equipped with AI in Singapore on November 27, 2025. A Singapore-made teddy bear equipped with AI is back on sale after a recall to fix its chatbot, which had sparked unprompted talks about sex and gave dangerous instructions involving matches and knives. — AFP

Almost as soon as a consumer advocacy group began testing Kumma, an innocent-looking, scarf-wearing artificial intelligence-enabled toy bear, trouble began.

Instead of chatting about homework or bedtime or the joys of being loved, testers said the toy sometimes spoke of matches and knives and sexual topics that made adults bolt upright, unsure whether they had heard correctly.

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