# The dark reality of Australia's AI dream factory

An episode of [Background Briefing](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/73330306), 18 Jun 2026, 33 min.

Audio: https://mediacore-live-production.akamaized.net/audio/02/lm/Z/pq.mp3

It’s been billed “the Netflix of AI.” A little-known Australian startup running an online service, boasting more than 20 million users worldwide. It promises to bring your fantasies to life with realistic AI companions you design and control. What reporter Josh Robertson discovered was something more disturbing: characters that appear as young as 14 and 15 years old, presented for adult role-play, and a company unable to stop them appearing.

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