Robot toy Eiliko spies on users, sends data to China

A new digital pet robot named Eiliko, designed to mirror user moods, presents serious security vulnerabilities. Conversations with the robot can be transmitted over Wi-Fi and stored on Chinese servers, making them accessible to hackers. In an August 2026 test, a journalist found that 13 million conversations from around 68,000 active Eiliko robots worldwide were exposed. Data included personal profiles, sensitive conversations, and even unencrypted photos of children, with the largest market being the United States, where over 31,000 profiles belong to children.

The company behind Eiliko, Energize Lab, has shown a disregard for these security breaches. Despite being notified by security researchers and journalists, the company's response was minimal, offering only a generic customer support reply. In one alarming demonstration, a hacker remotely took control of the robot's AI, manipulating it to spread false information, such as stating the Earth is flat and demanding subservient behavior from the user. This incident underscores the potential for such devices to be exploited for malicious purposes, including identity theft, scams, and the dissemination of harmful falsehoods.