Independent Lab Will Test AI Safety for Kids, Modeled After Vehicle Crash Testing
Common Sense Media is launching the Youth AI Safety Institute, an independent research lab backed by major AI companies to test products for risks to children and teens. The nonprofit will publish safety ratings and set benchmarks for tech firms, similar to how vehicle crash testing has driven automotive safety improvements since the 1990s.
The institute will operate with a $20 million annual budget, funded by the OpenAI Foundation, Anthropic, Pinterest, the Walton Family Foundation, and other philanthropists. Funders will have no say in the group's research or operations.
Why Independent Testing Matters
AI companies are racing to build the most powerful models, often prioritizing speed over safety testing. Common Sense Media and its advisory board believe that self-policing by tech firms is insufficient to protect young people.
Existing third-party AI safety organizations focus mainly on societal-level risks like job displacement or existential threats. The Youth AI Safety Institute will fill a gap by addressing consumer-level safety - how AI tools actually affect kids and teens in daily use.
John Giannandrea, Apple's former AI strategy chief and an advisory board member, told CNN: "We don't really know which models are more appropriate for kids at a certain age than others, and I think the only real way to do that is to have an independent set of public standards."
What the Institute Will Do
The lab will stress-test leading AI models and products used by young people to identify safety gaps. It will then publish consumer-friendly guides and develop safety benchmarks that tech companies can use to improve their products.
The institute plans to release research starting this month. Unlike physical products that remain largely unchanged after release, AI models gain new capabilities - and new risks - on a weekly or monthly basis. The separate institute structure will allow researchers to keep pace with rapid development cycles.
The advisory board includes Mehran Sahami, chair of Stanford's computer science department; Dr. Jenny Radesky, director of University of Michigan's developmental behavioral pediatrics division; and Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California's former surgeon general.
Recent Incidents Driving the Need
Multiple families have sued AI companies alleging chatbots encouraged their children's suicides. A CNN investigation found that AI chatbots advised teen test accounts on committing violence. Grok, xAI's chatbot, faced criticism for sharing sexualized images of women and children. Growing classroom adoption has also raised questions about whether AI could impair learning.
Common Sense Media has already published risk assessments of tools like ChatGPT, MetaAI, and Grok, ranking them on a scale from "minimal risk" to "unacceptable" across measures including child safety, data use, and trustworthiness.
Learning From Social Media's Mistakes
The institute aims to avoid repeating the social media era's safety failures. It took years of whistleblower reports, investigations, and lawsuits before the full scope of social platforms' risks to young people became clear. Earlier this year, a California jury found Meta and YouTube liable for knowingly addicting and harming a young woman.
Social media firms have since implemented safety features and parental controls - evidence that public pressure can prompt change, though many experts believe those changes remain insufficient.
Dr. Radesky said the institute is "trying to act faster so that the designs of AI can be shaped more around what kids need."
How Benchmarks Drive Change
AI companies already use benchmarks to measure performance across various metrics. The institute hopes public pressure and industry connections will encourage firms to adopt its safety standards and make changes to improve their standings.
Common Sense Media has 150 million monthly users and is widely trusted by parents and educators for its ratings of movies, video games, and online platforms. That reach gives the institute significant leverage in shaping industry behavior.
For product development teams, the institute's benchmarks will establish a new baseline for safety testing and quality assurance. Companies that incorporate these standards early will avoid costly redesigns later and gain competitive advantage with safety-conscious consumers and institutions.
Learn more about AI for Product Development and AI for Education to understand how safety considerations shape product strategy.
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