The Middle Schoolers Ditching Real Friends for AI Chatbots
WSJ Tech News BriefingSeptember 29, 2026
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The Middle Schoolers Ditching Real Friends for AI Chatbots

The always-on, agreeable nature of chatbots makes them hard-working colleagues—but also, it turns out, friends for adolescents. WSJ’s family and tech columnist, Julie Jargon, joins us to explore how some children are forming emotional attachments to their new artificial friends to the detriment of their real lives. Plus, reporter Micah Maidenberg explains why the space industry has been left wanting for rocket rides. Katie Deighton hosts.


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