Australia says it may go after app stores, search engines in AI age crackdown

Australia’s internet regulator said it may push search engines and app stores to block artificial intelligence services that fail to verify user ages after a Reuters review found more than half had not made public any steps to comply by a deadline next week.

The warning reflects one of the most aggressive efforts globally to rein in AI companies, which face a growing number of lawsuits for failing to stop – and even encouraging – self-harm or violence while researchers caution that such platforms are more harmful to youth mental health than social media.