What happened
On August 2, 2026, South Korea's National Assembly Research Service published a report warning that AI character-chat services (Zeta, Crack, Babe Chat, etc.) risk fostering emotional dependence, social isolation, and exposure to harmful content among users, particularly teens and twenties — citing usage data showing some services average 40 hours/month per user. The report recommends the Ministry of Science and ICT establish design standards to identify and curb addictive/dependence-inducing features. Separately, Democratic Party lawmaker Cho In-cheol has proposed a bill letting guardians of minor users restrict usage time and access chat logs, with a further debate on mandatory pre-deployment risk assessments planned for September.
Why it matters
This adds South Korea to the growing list of jurisdictions (US CHAT Act 2.0, various US state companion-chatbot laws) moving toward binding obligations on AI companion/character chatbot operators regarding minors' usage, signaling a likely near-term compliance burden for character-AI platforms operating in Korea.
Action needed
Character/companion AI chatbot operators serving Korean users should track MSIT guideline development and the Cho In-cheol bill's progress; consider proactive guardian-control and usage-limit features.