Mattel scraps plan for digital assistant for kids

In January, Mattel announced that it was developing a child-friendly smart assistant to take on Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri. But the toy giant has said this week that the plans have been scrapped following complaints from privacy groups and lawmakers. Several activist groups and at least two US lawmakers said Aristotle threatened to undermine privacy and could open up children to marketers, hackers and other threats. In January, Mattel announced that it was developing a child-friendly smart assistant to take on Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri. Deemed the'world's first smart baby monitor', Aristotle could order diapers, read children bedtime stories, sing lullabies and teach them a second language.