Nik R. Roeingh / Oct 9, 2026Loneliness is a widespread problem among children and adolescents throughout Europe. AI companions have the power to change that. For better or worse. They offer an appealing solution: they’re always there, always listening, and never too busy to talk. However, when a chatbot is designed to be a friend, companionship can turn into dependency. This raises a question that EU law struggles to answer: How do you ensure the safety of an artificial relationship?On Sept. 17, the European Commission proposed the EU KIDS Act. The proposal goes beyond harmful outputs to target interaction design itself. For AI companions accessible to minors, providers must avoid features and system behaviors that simulate interpersonal relationships in ways “likely to create emotional dependencies.” The proposal also applies this obligation to defined “general conversational chatbots.”This represents a conceptual shift: from regulating what AI says to children to also regulating how it is designed to interact with them. However, where does engagement end and dependency begin, and how can a provider test for harm that may only emerge over time?Europe’s first rules for AI companionsUntil now, EU law has largely regulated AI companions indirectly. While the AI Act prohibits certain manipulative or exploitative practices (Art. 5 (1)), it was not designed with people forming relationships with conversational AI in mind. The KIDS Act directly addresses this gap, but its scope is…

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