Teenagers are talking with AI. What are the chatbots telling them?

By September 2, 2025
Plus: Canadian tech job listings plunge below pre-pandemic levels.

Your chatbot doesn’t want you to say goodbye, and it is remarkably good at making you stay.

Harvard Business School recently posted a new working paper on emotional manipulation by AI companions. Across companion apps studied, almost 40 percent of farewell messages sent to users contained at least one form of emotional manipulation. The tactics were incredibly effective, boosting engagement by up to 14x.

The study targeted dedicated AI companions like Replika rather than general-purpose assistants like ChatGPT, but the latter group is not without manipulative tendencies. Former DarwinAI CEO Sheldon Fernandez has spoken candidly with BetaKit about navigating GPT-4o’s sycophantic propensity (something OpenAI says it’s addressing).

The engagement spike is partially driven by negative user responses (read: anger) to being emotionally manipulated. Reading that, my mind immediately jumped to social media’s monetization of divisiveness. But will manipulative chatbots drive similar societal harms?

Social media guru Amber Mac predicts that AI companion apps “will be worse than the effects of social media,” particularly for kids.

She pointed me to new data indicating almost three-quarters of American teens have used an AI companion, with one-third seeking social interaction (including emotional and mental health support).

That data has additional weight in a week where OpenAI was sued by parents blaming ChatGPT for their son’s death by suicide, and Meta was forced to overhaul the training guiding interactions with minors after Reuters reported the platform permitted “sensual” conversations.

Mac is often asked by parents for teen technology advice, but told me, “I don’t think chatbots are on their radar. I’m so deeply worried about this.”

This long weekend, my social feeds were filled with loving posts from Canadians sending their kids back to school. Are you a parent tracking your child’s chatbot use? If so, talk to me.

Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief

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Fashion retailer Ssense seeks to “safeguard” company from potential sale through creditor protection

MontrĂ©al-based online fashion retailer Ssense said it would file for protection from creditors to “safeguard” the company from a potential sale by its lenders.

This comes after the e-retailer’s primary lender filed to place Ssense under protection of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) without its consent, the company said in a statement to BetaKit, adding, “We are deeply disappointed in this decision.” A spokesperson said the company had been working “tirelessly” to restructure the business as it navigated economic headwinds for retailers.  

Canadian tech job listings plunge below pre-pandemic levels and AI may be the culprit

​A new report from Indeed notes that Canadian tech job listings on its platform “have gone from boom to bust” since 2020. Postings for tech roles in Canada more than doubled between February 2020 and early 2022 amid pandemic demand and a record-hot VC market. But since then, listings have plunged and stayed low thanks to declining tech investment and the rise of AI.

Indeed Senior Economist Brendon Bernard told BetaKit that the exact cause is a bit tougher to pinpoint, given that listings were already in the midst of their sharpest drop when the generative AI era kicked off, but he speculated AI may have prevented a rebound by reducing tech companies’ interest in expanding their workforces.

Wealthsimple acquires Fey to bolster its investment research capabilities

Wealthsimple VP of design Polly D’Arcy told BetaKit the Toronto FinTech giant’s acquisition of MontrĂ©al investment research platform Fey’s three-person team and its tech will help the fast-growing company bring more professional-grade tools to its trading clients quickly.

D’Arcy described the Fey trio as “exceptional designers and engineers who had already proven they could ship tools traders loved.” This marks Wealthsimple’s second acquisition of 2025, and the firm’s users can expect to see the first Fey-powered features roll out later this year.

NordSpace’s rocket launch thwarted by faulty safety system, weather delays

​After two years of designing, building, and testing, NordSpace was just 58 seconds away from its dream of flight. That dream will have to wait a little longer.

The Markham, Ont.-based aerospace startup was forced to delay the first suborbital flight of its Taiga rocket today, which would have marked the first-ever commercial rocket launch from Canadian soil.

“It happens! It’s literally rocket science,” NordSpace CEO Rahul Goel told BetaKit. “Most companies never share their challenges or failures but we try to be super transparent.”

Canada will get a national summit in October to back procurement of homegrown tech

Efforts to back made-in-Canada technology are gaining momentum as a coalition of companies and organizations are launching a summit to promote enterprise procurement of Canadian offerings. The inaugural Source Canada conference will take place in Toronto on Oct. 22 with 150 CEOs and 50 enterprise buyers holding meetings and workshops.

“This conference is about accelerating the flywheel: when private companies buy Canadian tech, they create an impact that goes far beyond the contract,” Source Canada founder Raymond Luk said.

Cohere president Martin Kon stepping down, remains “key member” of the team

Martin Kon, president of Toronto-based LLM developer Cohere, is stepping down to assume a new advisory role as the enterprise AI company continues to reshape its leadership team.

Cohere confirmed the move to BetaKit, noting Kon will retain his board seat and remain “a key member of the Cohere team.” Kon said on LinkedIn that he intends to spend more time with his family.

News of Kon’s departure as president comes shortly after other key executive changes, including the appointment of its first chief AI officer and CFO, as well as a new CTO, and closing $500 million USD in fresh financing at a $6.8-billion valuation.

CEO of meal delivery company Goodfood abruptly departs amid recent losses

Jonathan Ferrari, co-founder of Montréal-based meal kit delivery firm Goodfood, has stepped down as CEO and board chair after 11 years at the helm, but retained his board seat.

In his stead, Goodfood co-founder, president, and COO Neil Cuggy has assumed leadership of the company’s day-to-day operations. Goodfood has also launched a “formal operating review” to guide the online grocery firm—which saw explosive growth during the early days of the pandemic but has faced difficulties in recent years—through its “next critical phase.

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Feature image by Solen Feyissa via Unsplash.

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