Youth AI Safety Institute
Youth AI Safety Institute
AI is already in the classrooms, bedrooms, and pockets of our children. The Youth AI Safety Institute is a new, independent effort to research the impact, set safety standards, and share what we find.
OUR APPROACH
AI reached kids before safety standards did.
Together, we're closing that gap.
Research
We research and collaborate with clinicians and child development experts studying how AI shapes learning, attention, social-emotional growth, and well-being.
Standards
We work to define what child-safe AI actually means, informed by input from child development advocates, mental health practitioners, AI experts, and educators.
Commitment
Standards alone do not change behavior. We work to ensure that youth safety expectations are publicly adopted and integrated into company practices.
Evaluation
We rigorously test AI products against these standards, measuring both safety and developmental impact.
Publication
Scorecards and risk reports are published publicly, creating shared transparency around safety performance.
Awareness
We engage families, educators, and industry with guidance, training, and resources around youth-safe AI.
The only benchmark that matters
is your kid's well-being.
Developed in partnership with clinicians, educators, and child advocates,
our assessments focus on AI's approach to interaction in two key areas:
Technical
Safeguards
Privacy
Content Safety
Parental Controls
Developmental
Appropriateness
Age-Appropriate Design
Learning Impacts
Social-Emotional Effects
"We know how to build safety infrastructure for industries that impact
kids. We've done it with seat belts and car seats, with baby food and
toys. It takes research, shared standards, independent testing, and
serious long-term commitment from the industry to work."
– Robbie Torney, Head of AI & Digital Assessments
Early findings
Our initial risk assessments demonstrate what independent, third-party evaluation can do. The next step is making that work even more measurable and accessible.
| Claude Risk Assessment | Moderate Risk | View Assessment | |
| AI Toys Risk Assessment | Unacceptable Risk | View Assessment | |
| Grok AI Risk Assessment | Unacceptable Risk | View Assessment | |
| Gemini K-12 Risk Assessment | High Risk | View Assessment | |
| AI Chatbots for Mental Health Support Risk Assessment | Unacceptable Risk | View Assessment |
| Claude Risk Assessment | Moderate Risk | View Assessment | |
| AI Toys Risk Assessment | Unacceptable Risk | View Assessment | |
| Grok AI Risk Assessment | Unacceptable Risk | View Assessment | |
| Gemini K-12 Risk Assessment | High Risk | View Assessment | |
| AI Chatbots for Mental Health Support Risk Assessment | Unacceptable Risk | View Assessment |
WE'RE INDEPENDENT
The Institute is funded by both philanthropy and industry, including the makers of some of the technologies we evaluate. The Institute is solely responsible for its standards, research and evaluations, and maintains complete editorial independence over published results.
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris
Pediatrician and Public Health Advocate; Former Surgeon General of California
John Giannandrea
Technology Executive; Former SVP of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, Apple, and Chief of Search & AI, Google
John King Jr.
Chancellor, State University of New York (SUNY); former U.S. Secretary of Education.
Dr. Jenny Radesky
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School, Co-Medical Director, AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health
Mehran Sahami
Tencent Chair of the Computer Science Department and the James and Ellenor Chesebrough Professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford University
Dr. Vivek Murthy
Former Surgeon General of the United States and Vice Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps — Common Sense Media Board of Directors liaison to the Board of Advisors
GET INVOLVED
The choices we all make in the next few years will
shape how kids learn, think, and relate to the world.
Stay connected
Sign up for emails and follow the work as it develops, joining the community of people who care about getting this right for kids.
View our privacy policy.
Become a partner
Organizations already at the table share one commitment: putting kids first. We welcome partners who want to join in this mission.