What age can my child use ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude?

alai's makers wrote this guide to the age rules and parent controls of the main AI assistants, taken from each company's own pages on November 5, 2026. It includes alai, a notes app with Ally, an adaptive AI tutor. The rules change often, so check the linked page before you sign up.

The rules at a glance

A dash means the help pages we read didn't describe one.

ChatGPT (OpenAI)

OpenAI's Terms of Use set the minimum age at 13 and require a parent's or legal guardian's permission under 18.

To link accounts on the web, OpenAI's parental controls page says to open Settings, then Parental controls, then Add family member, and invite your teen. Once your teen accepts, you can set quiet hours, turn off features such as voice mode and image generation, and set study hours, when new chats start in study mode. You can't read your teen's chats, and either of you can unlink. In limited cases, such as a serious self-harm concern, ChatGPT may notify you.

OpenAI says study hours don't block access to ChatGPT. In tests published October 7, 2026, Common Sense Media found a teen could leave study mode during study hours by deleting the @study prefix, and ChatGPT then completed 100% of the test assignments. OpenAI told Education Week it took issue with Common Sense's methods.

Gemini (Google)

Google's sign-in page sets the age at 13, or the applicable age in your country, for personal and school accounts, and Google adds content filters for minors who are signed in. A younger child with a Family Link account needs a parent to turn Gemini on: Google's page for parents says to open the Family Link app or familylink.google.com, select your child, tap Controls, then Gemini, then Gemini Apps, and switch it on or off. You get an email when your child first activates the app. Supervised accounts can't use the Gemini web app.

For Guided Learning, Gemini's tutoring mode, go to gemini.google.com on a computer, click Add files, then More tools, then Guided Learning. Common Sense's review of Gemini for schools found students can switch back to regular Gemini at any time.

School accounts depend on the school's administrator, and Google's pages disagree on age: the page for school accounts lists all ages for most Education editions, while the sign-in page says 13. Google said on November 3, 2026 that Gemini and Search will be off for K-12 student accounts until administrators turn them on, and Education Week reported that the change starts early in 2027.

Claude (Anthropic)

Anthropic's Consumer Terms require Claude users to be at least 18, or older where local law sets a higher age to consent. Anthropic disables accounts that show signs of a user under 18 until the person verifies their age through Yoti, a third-party service, so there's no teen account for a parent to link.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft's Copilot terms require a Microsoft account and an age of at least 13, higher in some countries, and say some features may be limited under 18. Its page on Copilot for young people says Copilot doesn't personalize young people's answers from chat history or show them personalized ads, and that parents may be able to use Microsoft Family Safety or Apple or Google device settings to block Copilot, limit when it's used, and choose features such as image generation. On Windows, the Family Safety page says to sign in at account.microsoft.com, select your child, block Copilot, other AI apps and other browsers under Apps, features, and games, and add copilot.microsoft.com to Blocked sites under Web safety.

Meta AI

Meta's AI terms set the minimum age at 13, higher where a country requires it. For teens 13 to 17 (14 to 17 in some regions), supervision is optional: you invite your teen from Family Center, they accept, and either of you can end it. In the Meta AI app or website, you can then limit the types of conversations your teen has with Meta AI and see the general topics, but not the chats. On Instagram, supervision shows the topics your teen asked Meta AI about in the last seven days.

Snapchat's My AI

Snapchat's help center puts the minimum age at 13, with Family Center for parents 18 and older and teens 13 to 17. To set it up, make your own account, add your teen as a friend, open Family Center and invite your teen, who then accepts. To turn off My AI, open Family Center, expand Settings at the bottom and turn on Disable My AI. Snapchat says My AI then won't store or process your teen's questions or reply to them.

Khanmigo (Khan Academy)

Khanmigo is Khan Academy's AI tutor, which Khan Academy says doesn't give answers. An account of your own requires being 18 or older, living in the US and paying. Under 18, a parent's subscription ($4 a month or $44 a year, before tax) covers up to 10 children. To turn it on for a child, sign in at khanacademy.org, click your name, select Settings, open the Khanmigo tab, check your child's name and click Save Changes. From the Parent Dashboard, you can read the full chat history, with flagged messages marked.

alai

alai is for anyone 13 and older in the US, and teens 13 to 17 make their own account with a parent's or guardian's permission. For a child under 13, a parent or guardian signs in at tryalai.app/parent with their own email, confirms they're an adult with a card check through Stripe (a small charge, refunded straight away), and adds the child with just a first name and an age. alai never asks for a child's birthday, email or photo.

The parent can open or download the child's work, withdraw or restore permission (while it's withdrawn, nothing new is saved and Ally won't open), and delete the profile. There's no progress report for parents. Ally is set up not to give the corrected step or the final answer on a student's own problem while the student works, and Ally can misread handwriting or judge a step wrongly.

What the law says

In the US, the FTC's COPPA Rule covers websites and apps directed to children under 13, and others that know they're collecting personal information from a child under 13. They need verifiable parental consent before collecting, using or disclosing it. COPPA doesn't apply to teenagers.

The FTC finalized changes in January 2025, and the amended rule took effect on June 23, 2025, with most of it required by April 22, 2026. It requires separate parental consent before a child's information goes to third parties, including for targeted advertising, limits how long it can be kept, and adds biometric and government-issued identifiers to personal information. This summary isn't legal advice and doesn't say whether any company follows the rule.

What age rules can't tell you

An age rule decides who can open an account. It doesn't tell you whether a tool helps your child learn. Common Sense Media's age guidance, updated June 8, 2026, offers an outside view: no AI chatbots at 5 and under, limited use alongside a parent from 6 to 12, and supervised use for homework and creativity from 13, with no AI for emotional support under 18.

For choosing and setting up tools, see how to set up AI tools for homework and how to choose an AI tutor for kids.