Invest1 publisher2 min readPublished
EU's under-15 chatbot rule would rely on age-verification wallet built for 18+, adaptable to 13+
The EU Kids Act would bar under-15s from social media and AI chat services, while the age-verification wallet the Commission finished in April certifies 18 and can be adapted to 13. Member states are meant to be tooled by the end of 2026.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- The EU is drafting an EU Kids Act that would bar under-15s from social media, video-sharing platforms, AI chat services and online games, and require companies to verify age before granting access.
- The policy rests on a July report from Prof. Dr. Jorg M. Fegert and Dr. Maria Melchior, co-chairs of the European Commission's Special Panel on Online Child Safety, appointed in March.
- The panel puts AI companions in a category it calls social media+, alongside services built on unlimited scrolling, autoplay and recommendation algorithms.
- Member states are expected to have the necessary age-assurance tools in place by the end of 2026.
- Common Sense Media's 2026 census of 1,204 U.S. children aged 9 to 17 found 86% had used or interacted with AI and more than 20% used it almost every day.
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Why it matters
- constraint Relief from an age limit would depend on evidence the company itself has to produce, since the panel asks firms to prove a product is safe for young users before restrictions are loosened.
- capability The planned EU Age Verification Scheme would give consumer AI firms an approved supplier list to buy from, turning age assurance into a procurement line for identity and privacy vendors.
- contradiction The precautionary case sits on evidence that cannot support it: Common Sense Media's researchers say their survey design cannot establish whether AI use causes the loneliness regular users report.
The wallet is certified to answer whether a user is 18 or over, and the Commission says the same tool can be adapted for 13-plus limits [11]. The proposal draws its line at 15 [1], in between the two settings on offer [21]. The Commission published the document setting out its solution on July 14, 2025, and the wallet reached full working condition nine months later, on April 15, 2026 [9][10][22]. Nothing has been voted yet: the text goes to member countries and the European Parliament first [2].
The heavier commitment is the burden of proof. Fegert and Melchior said age restrictions "may be a necessary precautionary step" until social media+ spaces are shown to be effective and free of risk for children [7]. Their recommendation does not ban the products; it moves the burden onto companies, which must show a product is safe for young users before access limits are loosened [8]. Cryptopolitan's account of the report does not set out a test for what that showing would have to contain [23].
Turn the census percentages into children and the base is small: about 1,035 users out of the 1,204 surveyed, and more than 240 near-daily ones [20]. The sample runs from age 9 to 17, straddling the 15-year line the proposal draws, and the households are American [14][1]. The panel's own inputs came from academics, representatives of young people and parents, and institutions in the EU and outside it, including Australia and Brazil [5].
I'd expect the age-segmentation spend to happen whether the EU Kids Act passes or not. OpenAI has already launched ChatGPT for Teens [18], and Cryptopolitan expects consumer AI companies to put money into age verification, parental controls and separate services for minors [19]. Whatever a small firm spends on age verification is not going into the product.
Two ways I could be wrong. If Parliament and the member states land the limit at 13, the wallet as built already covers it and segmentation is closer to a configuration change than a second product line [11][2]. If the text stalls, a firm that built a 15-year gate early has bought an option on a rule that may never bind [2]. Cryptopolitan expects larger companies to absorb these costs more easily than their smaller competitors [17].
What to watch
- Whether the EU Age Verification Scheme's list of approved providers appears before the end-2026 deadline for member state tooling.
- Any member state passing its own age law before the EU Kids Act reaches a vote in Parliament.
- Whether the Commission or the panel publishes a test a company could pass to show a social media+ product is safe for children.