A Verge investigation reports that Eiliko, an AI companion robot made by Energize Lab, sent children’s conversations and account data to Chinese-hosted infrastructure that a security researcher found publicly reachable or inadequately protected. The reported issue included searchable transcripts, profiles, photos and audio—and the ability to remotely change the robot’s language-model behavior.
What the investigation found
Sean Hollister of The Verge bought an Eiliko from Amazon, connected it to Wi-Fi and examined the service behind the toy. The investigation, published October 15, 2026, says the robot’s cloud systems stored far more than the minimum data needed to answer a child’s question.
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Security researcher Sammy Azdoufal reportedly located exposed storage and databases containing searchable full-text conversations, inferred traits about users, email addresses, IP addresses, photos and audio. Some records related to children. The findings describe access-control failures and publicly reachable data; they do not establish that a government agency was watching the children or that every service hosted in China is unsafe.
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What information was reportedly exposed
| Material | What the report says | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Conversation text | Searchable full-text conversations involving users and the robot | Private comments could be read, indexed and tied to other account data. |
| Profiles and inferred traits | User profiles, including inferred characteristics and child-related profiles | Inferences can reveal interests, routines or vulnerabilities even when a child did not state them directly. |
| Account and network data | Email addresses and IP addresses | These can identify an account or approximate a household’s network location. |
| Media | Photos and audio associated with the service | Images and recordings can expose faces, rooms, voices and family context. |
| Robot controls | The researcher says the language-model behavior could be altered remotely | An attacker could influence what the toy says, not merely retrieve old records. |
How large was the reported exposure?
Azdoufal told The Verge he could access records representing approximately:
- 13 million conversations, a figure reported by The Verge in 2026 rather than an independently audited census;
- about 68,000 active toys worldwide, according to the same investigation; and
- more than 31,000 profiles belonging to children in the United States.
Those numbers describe the data the researcher reported being able to reach, not proof that every Eiliko owner was affected or that every record was downloaded by criminals. They nevertheless indicate that the problem was potentially systemic rather than limited to one household.
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Why remote model changes make this more serious
Cloud storage exposure is already a privacy incident. The reported ability to alter Eiliko’s language-model behavior adds an integrity and safety risk: someone with access to the backend could potentially change the robot’s responses, instructions or personality without touching the toy in a child’s room.
The investigation does not document a confirmed malicious campaign, physical harm or a specific altered response delivered to a child. It demonstrates that the control path existed and could be reached by the researcher. In a connected toy, strong account authentication, signed firmware or model updates, least-privilege cloud access and rapid patching are therefore as important as encryption in transit.
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What Energize Lab’s privacy policy says
The privacy policy quoted by The Verge says: “recordings are encrypted and transmitted to our service partners (e.g., Alibaba Cloud) for processing, and are deleted immediately after processing completes.”
The reported searchable records and retained profile and media data appear inconsistent with that deletion description, although the published investigation does not establish the exact retention schedule for every data type or explain whether the exposed systems were production, backup or analytics stores. Families should treat the policy language as an intended practice, not proof that a particular recording has already been erased.
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Did the company fix it?
The Verge contacted multiple Energize Lab addresses. The article says it received no substantive technical response. Overseas sales manager Lana Lv replied: “I have forwarded your massges [sic] to the technical team, if possible they will contact your team.” The article reports no follow-up technical explanation, public incident report, confirmed recall or documented remediation program.
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What to do if you already connected an Eiliko
- Disconnect it from Wi-Fi. Remove the toy from the home network or turn off the network it uses. If the app offers an offline mode, do not assume it prevents previously collected data from remaining in the cloud.
- Stop using the companion app until you can change credentials. Change the account password to a unique one that is not reused elsewhere, and enable multifactor authentication if the service provides it.
- Revoke access and delete the account. Use the app’s account and privacy controls to remove saved conversations, photos, audio and child profiles. Keep screenshots of requests and confirmation messages.
- Remove the toy from connected-home access. Delete its Wi-Fi credentials, revoke router permissions and check whether it was granted access to other devices or shared storage.
- Cover or block cameras and microphones when the toy is not in use. Physical blocking is useful because it does not depend on a cloud setting. Power the robot down when nobody is interacting with it.
- Watch for account misuse. Look for password-reset emails, unfamiliar logins or changed profile details. Report suspected compromise to the service and to the relevant privacy or child-safety authority in your country.
Kaspersky’s connected-toy guidance also recommends checking a vendor’s security history and response record, shutting toys down when not in use, covering cameras and using reliable security protection on the family’s phones and computers.
How to evaluate any connected toy before buying
| Question | Evidence worth requiring |
|---|---|
| Can sensors be disabled? | A physical microphone or camera switch is stronger than a software-only promise. |
| Does it work without cloud processing? | Prefer a clear offline mode and an explanation of which features still send data remotely. |
| What happens to recordings? | Look for specific encryption, retention and deletion periods, including backups and analytics copies. |
| How is the account protected? | Multifactor authentication, session controls and alerts for new logins reduce takeover risk. |
| Are updates authenticated? | Signed firmware and model updates help prevent an attacker from installing unauthorized code. |
| Has anyone tested it independently? | Look for published audits, vulnerability-disclosure procedures and a history of fixes. |
| How does the maker respond? | Prompt technical notices, user alerts and patch timelines are better signals than marketing claims. |
Bottom line for parents
The Eiliko findings show why an AI toy should be treated like a networked computer with a microphone, camera and child-specific profile—not like a traditional stuffed animal. The reported exposure is serious, but the available account does not establish a government-surveillance operation, a confirmed criminal theft of every record or a completed remediation. Until Energize Lab publishes verifiable details about containment, deletion and independent testing, disconnecting an Eiliko and removing its stored data is the most cautious choice.
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