Common Sense Media announced on May 5 the launch of its Youth AI Safety Institute, supported by an annual $20 million budget to establish standards for child-safe artificial intelligence (AI) and conduct rigorous testing of AI products aimed at young users.
The nonprofit organization, recognized for providing technology guidance to parents, has begun collaborating with policymakers across federal and state levels in the U.S., while also developing international partnerships. On May 12, the Institute was formally introduced in Europe at the Copenhagen Summit, co-hosted with Save the Children Denmark and former European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. High-profile figures at the event included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ofcom CEO Melanie Dawes, and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Institute’s Mission and Leadership
The Youth AI Safety Institute aims to define what constitutes safe AI usage for children and provide independent assessments with ratings that inform parents, educators, and policymakers. Common Sense Media has already assigned risk ratings to several major AI models, labeling OpenAI’s ChatGPT-5 as “high risk,” and Google’s Gemini K-12 product also as “high risk.” Other AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude were rated “moderate risk,” while various AI toys and mental-health chatbots were marked “unacceptable risk.”
The Institute is led by Bruce Reed, who joined Common Sense Media in March 2025 as Head of Common Sense AI. Reed previously served as President Joe Biden’s Deputy Chief of Staff and played a leading role in Biden’s AI Executive Order. Known for his AI policy expertise and dubbed the “AI Whisperer” by Politico, Reed brings experience negotiating significant privacy legislation and has been recognized among Time’s 100 most influential people in AI.
Challenges and Goals
Reed described the current AI landscape as one of both promise and peril for children. While youth adoption of AI is widespread—surpassing the engagement rates of most adults—there are growing concerns about AI’s risks, compounded by the lack of comprehensive government oversight. He emphasized that children should not become “crash dummies” for AI like they did for social media, which has caused a range of documented harms over the past decade.
The Institute plans to fill a global gap, as existing AI safety organizations generally focus on national security or existential risks rather than immediate harms to minors. “We want to build the first Youth AI Safety Institute in the world,” Reed said, citing strong demand internationally for child-focused AI safety standards.
Common Sense Media intends to leverage its two decades of experience in setting age-appropriate media and technology standards to establish benchmarks for AI safety. Given the dynamic nature of AI products, the Institute will employ a technical team located primarily in the Bay Area to develop robust protocols for ongoing evaluation and testing.
Independence and Funding
The Institute’s funding sources include philanthropies, individual donors, and technology companies such as Anthropic, the OpenAI Foundation, and Pinterest. Reed acknowledged concerns about potential conflicts of interest but insisted the Institute will maintain full editorial independence in its testing and public reporting. Companies will have no influence over the methodology or results published, ensuring transparency and credibility for parents and policymakers.
Why it matters
With a majority of children already engaging with AI tools, the Institute’s work addresses an urgent need for clear safety standards amid rapid product development and adoption. By providing accessible risk ratings and advocating for regulatory guardrails, the Youth AI Safety Institute hopes to protect young users from emerging harms and influence policy decisions in the U.S. and globally. Its efforts represent a proactive attempt to avoid repeating the social and psychological damages experienced by children in the era of unregulated social media.
Sources
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