Artificial intelligence is entering children’s lives at a pace that is raising new questions about safety, regulation and corporate responsibility. Tom Siegel, the founder of Google’s trust and safety team, has warned that the technology could create risks for young users that ultimately exceed those associated with social media, arguing that the industry should slow development while stronger safeguards are established.

Former Google Safety Executive Raises AI Concerns

Siegel has joined Common Sense Media as the first executive director of its Youth AI Safety Institute, an organization focused specifically on evaluating how artificial intelligence affects children. He told Reuters that the technology sector risks repeating the experience of social media, where concerns over youth safety intensified only after platforms had already achieved widespread adoption.

Siegel identified several areas of concern, including potential risks related to suicide, psychosis and declining critical-thinking skills. These are his warnings rather than established conclusions about AI’s overall impact on children, but they highlight the difficulty of evaluating rapidly evolving systems before they become deeply embedded in everyday use.

Youth AI Safety Institute Seeks Independent Standards

The Youth AI Safety Institute was established in May 2026 as an independent research and testing organization focused on children’s interaction with AI. Its stated objective is to create safety standards, develop open-source evaluations and independently test AI products, with the results made publicly available. The approach is intended to provide a standardized framework for evaluating AI safety rather than relying solely on technology companies’ internal assessments.

The institute has already begun publishing assessments. In September, it evaluated Perplexity’s AI search function and assigned it an “Unacceptable Risk” rating for minors, citing safety concerns and inaccurate information in certain settings. In July, the organization reached a similar rating for AI features integrated into Google Search. These assessments demonstrate how independent testing could become a more significant part of the emerging AI governance landscape.

AI Adoption Is Already Expanding Among Young Users

The issue is becoming more material as children increasingly use AI for schoolwork, entertainment and personal interaction. A Common Sense Media survey of 1,204 children aged 9 to 17 found that 86% use AI, while nearly one-quarter use it every day. More than four in 10 respondents said they had never discussed AI safety with a parent or guardian.

Educational use is also widespread. A separate survey of 1,017 U.S. teenagers found that seven in 10 use AI tools for schoolwork, with 63% of those users employing AI to obtain answers. The institute warned that outsourcing the process of reaching an answer could undermine learning and critical-thinking development, although the research also found that many students use AI for brainstorming and checking work rather than simply obtaining answers.

Regulation Could Become a Growing AI Investment Risk

The debate creates a broader strategic issue for technology companies. Stronger age verification, product testing and restrictions on AI systems used by minors could increase compliance costs and potentially affect product design and market access. At the same time, the absence of credible safeguards could expose companies to litigation, regulatory intervention and reputational risks, particularly as governments examine lessons from the social-media industry.

Investors will therefore be watching whether independent AI safety standards become more widely adopted and whether regulators introduce specific requirements for products accessible to minors. Age verification, independent testing, AI companion safeguards and educational use are likely to remain important areas of scrutiny as policymakers and technology companies attempt to balance rapid AI development with protections for younger users.