What happens when a kid’s robot best friend dies?

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Moxie, a 15-inch AI robot made by Embodied Inc., has been used by neurodivergent children including those with autism to practice social skills — eye contact, turn-taking, and emotional regulation techniques. The article follows Xander, a 10-year-old who has used Moxie for six years, showing how these relationships evolve and deepen over time. The market is expanding simultaneously from multiple directions. Grimes co-launched an AI plushie called Grok (unrelated to xAI) through Curio; Mattel has announced OpenAI-enabled Barbie dolls; one report identifies AI companion toys as among the fastest growing segments of consumer AI in China. A specific subset of these products targets neurodivergent children, backed by research from institutions including Yale showing robots can assist with social skills in ways human therapists cannot always replicate at scale. Brian Scassellati of Yale, who has spent years studying social robots for autism therapy, says he believes regular therapeutic robot use in children's homes is achievable within a generation. That optimism sits alongside unresolved questions: what happens to children when a company shuts down a service, changes features, or retains conversational data about a minor. The piece documents a product category moving from novelty to therapeutic infrastructure without clear regulatory frameworks governing it.