Roblox has unveiled a major new safety system that will use artificial intelligence to estimate the age of every user on the platform.
CEO David Baszucki said the plan is to finish the rollout by the end of the year. In his words:- “We’re going to use AI to estimate the age of every single person on Roblox. We expect to have this done all by the end of this year.”
This is aimed at dealing with ongoing concerns about minors on the platform and how they interact with others. Investors did not react positively.
Roblox stock fell on Friday after the company presented this safety push along with comments about increased spending planned for 2026. Even with that drop, shares are still up more than 93% this year.
In the third quarter, Roblox reported revenue of $1.36 billion, which was a 48% jump compared to last year and above estimates of $1.09 billion. But the company also posted a net loss of $257.4 million, compared to $240.4 million last year.
Bookings grew 70% year over year, and daily active users were also up 70%. Even with that growth, management warned that higher capital expenses are coming, and that the new facial age estimation system may create what they described as “engagement friction.”
Wall Street did not like the sound of that.
Analysts highlight risk to engagement metrics
JPMorgan analyst Cory Carpenter rates Roblox Overweight. He said the new facial estimation feature may reduce player usage as users get used to the process.
Carpenter wrote, “Facial estimation is the primary safety initiative that could impact engagement next year. Mgmt thinks it’s prudent to expect some initial friction, but it’s hard to quantify at this point.”
Roblox has built its model around players spending long periods of time inside its worlds. Any slowdown is something investors will watch closely.
Baszucki described the system as part of Roblox’s broader safety framework. He said the company wants to create what he called a “gold standard for communication safety on the internet,” pointing to strict text filters and bans on image or video sharing in chats.
He added that the AI age system has already been tested internally. “It’s really quite elegant,” he said. “I’m very optimistic that any friction that we might see from this is actually beneficial to us in the long run.”
The company is also under legal pressure. A lawsuit in Florida claimed Roblox did not do enough to prevent minors from encountering harmful content. Roblox has denied these claims.
Regulators and lawmakers are also pushing all major platforms to improve age verification and safety tools. Other platforms are moving too. Instagram applies PG-13 restrictions to users under 18.
Verification process may create user pushback
A third of Roblox’s 150 million daily active users are under 13. That makes safety changes more urgent, but also more complicated. The facial estimation process takes about 30 seconds and requires players to turn on their camera and rotate their head.
This could be harder on consoles and mobile devices. Carpenter noted that Roblox users spend an average of 2.5 hours per day on the platform, and any feature that interrupts that routine could weaken engagement.
Roblox currently runs more than 400 AI systems across the platform, including systems for generating new game content, moderating chat, and translating languages. The company is also building new data centers to support its AI work.
Baszucki said new 4D generative tools are coming that will let users create objects simply by talking.
Even with short-term concerns, Carpenter remains positive on the business.He expects bookings to grow 20% next year and believes margins will start improving again by 2027.
Carpenter did, however, cut his 2026 price target from $160 to $145. He wrote, “There’s no debate around the near-term platform momentum.”
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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/roblox-ai-age-tool-analysts-question-upside/
