By Sophie Charara
Publication Date: 2026-05-08 10:00:00
The main opponent from Toy Story 5Coming to theaters this summer, a green, frog-shaped children’s tablet called Lilypad is a brilliant new villain for the popular Pixar franchise. But if Pixar had had a sympathetic ear, it might have used an AI children’s toy instead.
AI toys are seemingly everywhere, marketed online as friendly companions for children ages three and up, and are still a largely unregulated category. Thanks to model developer programs and Vibe coding, creating an AI companion is easier than ever. In 2026, they have become a popular cheap jewelry trend, lining the halls of trade shows like CES, MWC and the Toys & Games Fair in Hong Kong. As of October 2025, there were over 1,500 AI toy companies registered in China, and Huawei’s plush toy Smart HanHan sold 10,000 units in China in its first week. Sharp put its talking AI toy PokeTomo up for sale in Japan in April.
However, if you search for AI toys on Amazon, you will mainly find specialized players such as FoloToy, Alilo, Miriat and…