Roblox Introduces AI-Powered Age Estimation for Enhanced Teen Safety

Roblox introduces new safety features, including an AI to estimate a teenager's age through video selfies

Roblox has today announced a suite of new safety features coming to the platform, including an AI used to estimate a teenager's age by taking a selfie. Roblox, used primarily by children and teens, has long been criticised for its questionable safety measures. Last year, it was claimed Roblox reported 13,316 instances of child exploitation in 2023. The company has taken further steps to improve child safety over the past year, though back in March co-founder and CEO David Baszucki said parents shouldn't let their kids play Roblox if they're "not comfortable" about their safety. Now, the company is advancing its "safety and civility vision" with the addition of four new features, as outlined in a new blog. "Safety has always been foundational to everything we do at Roblox," the blog reads. "Our goal is to lead the world in safety and civility for online gaming. We've spent nearly two decades building sophisticated safety systems, which supports our mission of connecting a billion people every day with optimism and civility. "We are dedicated to supporting experiences that are both deeply engaging and empowering for players of all ages, while continuously innovating how all users connect and interact. Today, we're taking a significant step forward and announcing an expansion of our safety platform." The first feature is Trusted Connections. Friends will now be known as Connections, and users 13 and older will be able to specify Trusted Connections, intended to allow for more free communication with people they know. Users who are 13 to 17 can add each other, but can only add users who are 18+ through a QR scan or Contact Importer. All conversations remain proactively monitored by Roblox. Trusted Connections requires age verification. For this, Roblox is rolling out Age Estimation as a prerequisite. Essentially, this is an AI that will estimate a user's age by analysing a video selfie "against a large and diverse dataset", which the company assures is "handled securely". If the tool identifies a user as under 13, or is unable to verify age, Trusted Connections will be inaccessible. Age verification can still be done with an ID - and in future, by parental consent. How easily this can be exploited remains to be seen. Thirdly, Roblox is adding new privacy and well-being tools to "help teens set healthy boundaries". This includes online status controls, a do not disturb mode, and insights into screen-time. Lastly, the parental controls for parents of users aged 13 and under will be extended globally to parents of teens too. Parents will be able to set up a linked Roblox account to gain visibility into a child's Trusted Connections, screen-time insights, and spending notifications - if a teen gives consent. "Today's announcement marks an important step forward, as we build on our existing safety systems with investments in advanced machine learning with AI, content moderation, and comprehensive parental controls," the blog post concludes. "The launch of Trusted Connections with Age Estimation, new privacy tools, and parental insights for parents of teens builds on our existing safety systems to deliver industry-leading, age-informed communication that redefines digital safety and civility." On top of safety concerns for users, Roblox has previously been accused of "exploiting" young game developers, as per an investigation in 2021.

Roblox Rolls Out AI-Powered Video Selfie Check to Boost Teen Safety

Can AI Video Selfies Make Roblox Safer for Teens? Learn Everything About the Latest Roblox Rollout With a significant update rolled out in July 2025, Roblox is introducing a revolutionary AI-based video selfie age verification process. It is designed to enhance online safety for accounts under 18. By integrating age estimation with an overhauled friend system and parent tools, Roblox is solidifying its status as a pioneer in online youth safety. To be eligible for more casual communication, individuals aged 13 and above must upload a brief video selfie. The selfie is assessed by AI to check the age of the player. A confident guess unlocks features such as unfiltered text and voice chat. An AI-based video selfie can be hurtful at times. If the AI is unsure, the user can verify their identity via a government-issued ID or (coming soon) parental approval. Biometric information will be erased after 30 days, unless it is legally required to be retained.

Roblox's New Safety Features Include an AI That Will Guess Your Age Based on a Video Selfie - IGN

The company claims new features will help keep teens on platform, where conversations can be moderated. Roblox has announced a new range of safety features directed specifically at teenagers ages 13-17, including a new age estimation technology that uses AI to guess a user's age based on a video selfie they submit. Today's announcement reveals several new features being implemented in Roblox that the company claims will improve teen and child safety on its platform. At the core of the announcement are new features specifically for teens ages 13-17, giving them more freedom on the platform than younger children but still less than adults. Teens will be able to designate "trusted connections" on Roblox, with whom they will be able to chat on the platform without filters. Per Roblox, the goal is to better monitor conversations teens are having on Roblox rather than having them lured to third-party platforms where unmonitored conversations could become inappropriate. Trusted connections are intended to be set between users who know one another well, and if a teen intends to set someone 18+ as a trusted connection, they can only do so using a QR code scanner or a contact importer. In the past, Roblox has relied on the submission of a government ID verifying that users are 13+ or 18+ to unlock certain platform chat features. However, it is now implementing an alternative verification method. Individuals can submit a "video selfie" to Roblox, and an AI will determine if it believes the person in question is 13+ by analyzing it against "a large, diverse dataset." Google began testing a similar feature earlier this year, as did Meta the year prior. In addition to these changes, Roblox is also adding new tools such as online status controls, a do not disturb mode, and parental controls for parents who have linked their accounts to a teenage's account. Roblox has long been in an uncomfortable spotlight regarding its handling of children's safety. In 2018, it made headlines when a mother reported her seven-year-old daughter's Roblox character was violently sexually assaulted by other players in-game, and separately a six-year-old girl playing Roblox was reportedly invited into a "sex room". In 2021, People Make Games published a report on the ways in which Roblox's business model allegedly exploits child labor. In 2022, Roblox faced a San Francisco lawsuit accusing it of enabling the financial and sexual exploitation of a 10-year-old girl. In 2023, it was sued both for allegedly facilitating "an illegal gambling ecosystem" and more generally for having lax child safety protocols that allegedly led to financial loss and children's exposure to adult content. Just last year, Bloomberg published a damning report highlighting the prevalence of child predators on the platform. That same year, the platform claimed it reported over 13,000 incidents of child exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the year 2023, resulting in the arrest of 24 individuals who allegedly preyed on children through the game. "Safety has always been foundational to everything we do at Roblox," said Roblox chief safety officer Matt Kaufman in a statement alongside today's new feature news. "Our goal is to lead the world in safety and civility for online gaming. We are dedicated to supporting experiences that are both deeply engaging, and empowering for players of all ages, while continuously innovating how users connect and interact."