More than half of American children aged 9 to 17 now have at least one AI app on their phones, according to new anonymized data from Findmykids, a family safety app. The figure reached 56.3% in September 2026, up from 41.6% a year earlier, and the average number of AI apps per child grew 54%. The shift is not driven solely by preinstalled software: ChatGPT, usually self-installed, rose from 19% to 28% of phones, even though it is not intended for children under 13. Among 9- and 10-year-olds, ownership jumped from 37% to 53%, nearly matching the 58% rate among teens.
The more consequential finding, however, concerns how children use these tools. Chatbots such as ChatGPT function like a search box: daily users grew 71%, but time spent per session remained flat. AI companions—characters with a name, personality, and memory—appear on only 8.7% of phones, yet use peaks at 103 minutes a day on weekends. The average chatbot user spends 18 minutes a day, while the average AI companion user spends 93 minutes. "That gap, not the install count, is what parents should watch," said the Findmykids Analytics Team.
The implications are significant. AI companions blur the line between entertainment and relationship, potentially displacing real-world social interaction and sleep. The full study on the Findmykids blog notes that after Character.AI ended open-ended chats for minors, its daily users more than halved, while Talkie grew from 3.3% to 4.9% of phones, demonstrating that restrictions on one app simply push children to another. Nearly half of teens using AI chatbots report at least one harmful experience, according to a national Cyberbullying Research Center survey. "Chatbots have moved past novelty status for many young people," writes the center's co-director Sameer Hinduja. For parents, the challenge is no longer whether children will encounter AI but how to monitor the intensity and nature of that engagement. Findmykids, developed by Letem LTD, allows parents to see which apps, including new AI apps, a child has installed and their daily screen time. The data reflects Findmykids users only, not all US children, but the trend is clear: AI is becoming a fixture of childhood, and the companion category in particular demands attention.
