New anonymized data from Findmykids, a family safety app, shows that 56.3% of US children aged 9 to 17 had at least one AI app on their phone in September 2026, up from 41.6% a year earlier. The average number of AI apps per child grew by 54%. This sharp increase signals that AI tools have rapidly become a staple of childhood, not a niche interest. The implications are profound: parents, educators, and policymakers must now confront a landscape where AI is woven into daily life for the majority of young people.
Kids aren't just using what comes preinstalled. ChatGPT, usually self-installed, rose from 19% to 28% of phones. The youngest users are catching up fastest. Among 9-10 year-olds, ownership jumped from 37% to 53%, close to teens at 58%, though ChatGPT isn't meant for under-13s. This age gap closure suggests that younger children are increasingly accessing sophisticated AI, often without parental oversight. The fact that a tool not designed for them is so prevalent highlights a regulatory and ethical gap.
Habits split into two distinct patterns. Chatbots work like a search box: daily users grew 71%, while time spent stayed flat. AI companions, characters with a name, personality, and memory, are on only 8.7% of phones, but use peaks at 103 minutes a day on weekends. "The average chatbot user spends 18 minutes a day in it. The average AI companion user spends 93. That gap, not the install count, is what parents should watch," said the Findmykids Analytics Team. The intensity of companion use suggests emotional reliance, which can be more concerning than casual chatbot interactions.
One app's restrictions don't close the category. 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. This migration shows that when one platform tightens rules, children simply move to alternatives. Nearly half of teens using AI chatbots report at least one harmful experience, per a national Cyberbullying Research Center survey. "Chatbots have moved past novelty status for many young people," writes the center's co-director Sameer Hinduja. The mental health and safety risks are therefore not isolated to a single app but are systemic.
Findmykids shows parents which apps, including new AI apps, a child has installed and the child's daily screen time. The full study is available on the Findmykids blog. The data reflects Findmykids users only, not all US children, but the trends are clear. As AI becomes ubiquitous, the need for digital literacy and parental engagement has never been greater. The findings underscore that monitoring install counts is insufficient; understanding how children use these tools is critical to safeguarding their well-being.
