Age Limits and Terms for AI Tools

Age limits for AI tools come from two sources: the law and the company's own terms. In the United States, COPPA, passed in 1998, requires websites and apps directed at children under 13, or that knowingly collect data from them, to obtain verifiable parental consent. Supporting under-13 users means building consent systems and data limits, so many companies simply set 13 as their minimum. In the EU, Article 8 of the GDPR sets 16 as the default age at which a child can consent to data processing for online services, but lets member states lower it to as young as 13, so the threshold varies by country. The UK's Age Appropriate Design Code adds design expectations for services likely to be used by children. Company terms then add their own rules. OpenAI requires ChatGPT users to be at least 13 and to have a parent or guardian's permission if under 18. Anthropic requires Claude.ai users to be 18 or older. Character.AI set a minimum of 13, with a higher age in the EU, and later announced restrictions on open-ended chat for users under 18. Google makes Gemini available to teens with their own accounts and to younger children through Family Link supervision, with minimum Google account ages varying by country. School accounts are a common exception. FTC guidance on COPPA allows schools, in some circumstances, to consent on parents' behalf for tools used solely for educational purposes, and education products are governed by the school's contract with the provider. A common misconception is that age limits are only about maturity; they are largely about data protection. Another is that terms are fixed. They change often, so check the current terms before relying on any age rule.