⚠️Smart Toys Are a Privacy Nightmare

Just days before kids start opening their holiday gifts, connected toys are topping wish lists, but many come with serious privacy risks. We break down why these smart toys can quietly collect data on children and families. Teens are also flocking to chatbots. We look at which ones they actually use and what they rely on them for. And as budget cuts squeeze universities, schools are turning to AI teaching assistants, raising big questions about cost savings, learning quality, and the future of education.

Let’s dive in and stay curious.

• Smart Toys Are a Privacy Nightmare
• Introducing Zenflow by Zencoder
• 🧰 AI Tools
• 🛠️ AI Jobs Corner
• AI Is Entering the Classroom, Because Universities are running out of money.
• Which Chatbots are Teens Using?

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📰 AI News and Trends

• President Trump’s executive order targeting state AI laws faces long odds in the courts, setting the stage for the real battle to play out on Capitol Hill. Senate Democrats are starting to push back against it.
• Lovable just raised 330 million dollars at a 6.6 billion valuation, barely five months after its last round
• ChatGPT Becomes the App Store as OpenAI Races Toward IPO
• OpenAI Group PBC today released a new version of GPT-Codex, its agentic artificial intelligence coding model that’s designed to automate complex software engineering tasks.
• DoorDash unveils ChatGPT grocery app one week after Instacart debut. It turns recipe and meal ideas “directly into grocery orders delivered in as little as an hour.”
• Tag @Lovable in any ChatGPT conversation to turn your brainstorm into a full-stack app. The company also received a $330 million Series B round that places it at a $6.6 billion valuation.

Other Tech News

• Global power is increasingly being transferred to the world’s tech corporations.
• Robotics startup Foundation is accelerating its push into military humanoid robotics, outlining plans to manufacture up to 50,000 humanoid robots by the end of 2027.
• TikTok signed binding agreements with Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX to form a U.S.-controlled version of the app, a step toward avoiding a federal ban while leaving Chinese ownership just under the legal threshold.
• China figured out how to sell EVs. Now it has to bury its batteries.

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AI Is Entering the Classroom

Because Universities Are Running Out of Money

U.S. universities are rapidly adopting AI teaching assistants not mainly for innovation, but for survival. A looming “enrollment cliff” starting in 2025 is expected to shrink the college-age population by nearly 15% by 2039, gutting tuition revenue as costs keep rising.

Schools like UCLA Anderson, Harvard, Georgia Tech, and ASU are using AI to automate grading, tutoring, advising, and even recommendation letters, cutting reliance on human TAs amid budget cuts and labor pressures. While AI offers 24/7 support, lower costs, and broader access, it also raises risks: fewer graduate jobs, weaker mentorship, and a more automated, less human university experience. The takeaway: AI in higher ed isn’t optional, it’s a financial response to crisis, and it’s reshaping how education is delivered.

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• Machine Learning Researchers (PhD)
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Smart Toys Are a Privacy Nightmare

It’s that time of the year when kids are getting a lot of gifts. And what do they want? Gadgets, even my kids who are under 10 are asking for a phone or an iPad, which they will not get for another decade (well, at least I’ll try to delay it as long as possible), but lots of kids will get a mobile device, ipad or another type of connected toy.

Now there are a slew of connected devices even for toddlers. Kids tablets, smartwatches, companion robots, STEM toys, Bluetooth puzzles, and audio players, including products from Amazon, Huawei, Tonies, TickTalk, Sphero, and others.

These toys are very entertaining, addictive, and an entertained kid, means parents get their time back. But there are a lot of concerns with these devices: They are always on. These devices could always be listening, recording footage, and gathering how the users interact with them, data that can be used by the toy makers to improve these devices and gather data about the entire house or environment where these toy resides. If we decide to bring these devices home and allow kids to use them, be very aware of the private data you are exposing and how it could be used.

A new Mozilla Foundation report, backed by independent audits from cybersecurity firm 7ASecurity, found that 10 of the most popular internet-connected toys. The results are alarming.

Key findings

• 10/10 toys collected personal data on kids and parents
• 5/10 collected location data
• 6/10 had server-side security flaws or missing authentication
• 4/10 exposed sensitive data through insecure physical storage (e.g., SD cards)

What can go wrong

• Voice hijacking: Some toys’ speakers could be intercepted, letting attackers inject audio — potentially speaking directly to children.
• Data leaks: Lost or donated toys can expose photos, voice recordings, GPS data, routines, and home details if storage isn’t encrypted.
• Remote control: Poor backend security could allow attackers to fully control toys, including cameras and microphones.
• Bluetooth takeovers: Several toys had weak or no Bluetooth authentication, allowing nearby attackers to pair silently and control the device.

Cheap, cloud-connected toys are collecting adult-grade data with toy-grade security. Until third-party audits become standard, the safest option for kids this holiday season may be low-tech toys.

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🧰 AI Tools of The Day

Which Chatbots are Teens Using?

Pew Research

Pew surveyed U.S. teenagers in late Sept–early Oct on chatbot usage. The results show a clear hierarchy:

• ChatGPT dominates teen usage by a wide margin, cementing its role as the default AI for homework help and casual conversation.
• Google Gemini and Meta’s AI follow at a distance, forming a clear second tier.
• Microsoft Copilot stands out as a surprise performer, likely boosted by heavy Microsoft adoption in U.S. schools (Windows, Office, school-issued accounts).
• Anthropic’s Claude ranks last, with usage in the low single digits, unsurprising given Anthropic’s focus on enterprise and coding agents rather than consumer chatbots.

Even though the data is a few months old, rankings are unlikely to change much. Teen usage is driven more by habit, personality, and school workflows than by marginal model quality improvements.

Bottom line: Consumer mindshare with teens ≠ enterprise success. ChatGPT owns the youth funnel, while Claude plays a different game entirely.

⚠️Smart Toys Are a Privacy Nightmare was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.