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Former Google Safety Chief Urges Slower AI Rollout and Child-Focused Testing

September 23, 2026 at 00:16 EDT

Policy & Regulation
Education
Security

Tom Siegel, the former Google trust-and-safety executive who founded the company's first Trust & Safety team, has joined Common Sense Media's Youth AI Safety Institute as its first executive director and is urging the AI industry to slow deployments to children until stronger safeguards and independent tests are in place. The warning turns a long-running debate over teen mental health and social media into a more immediate fight over chatbots, AI search, and whether private labs can police youth-facing AI on their own.

Sep. 22, 2026 | Youth AI Safety Institute

Child AI safety gets a crash-test push

Tom Siegel is calling for slower youth-facing AI rollouts, stronger age checks, and independent tests for chatbots and AI search products used by children.

86%

children ages 9 to 17 use AI

70%

teens use AI for schoolwork

2,600+

Google AI Search tests

180

homework prompts completed

Youth AI exposure

Same-unit comparison: share of young users in recent surveys.

86%Any AI use

75%Search summaries

70%Schoolwork use

The proposed safety loop

Youth use

Risk signal

Independent test

Public standard

Why families still use it

Teens report help understanding assignments, companies point to tutoring features, and schools are looking for guided learning rather than answer shortcuts.

Why critics want tests

Open questions remain around crisis handling, age assurance, product disable controls, and whether AI use offloads too much thinking.

The accountability test

Independent ratings only work if companies grant meaningful access and accept repeatable child-safety standards.

Age checksAI Search off switchPublished evaluationsCompany cooperation

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