Ex-Google safety chief warns AI harms children more than social media, joins Common Sense Media

Tom Siegel, the founder of Google’s trust and safety team and its vice president until 2019, warned this week that the technology industry is repeating the mistakes of the social media era with artificial intelligence at greater risk to children, and announced on Tuesday that he will lead Common Sense Media’s new Youth AI Safety Institute. Siegel told Reuters the industry faces “a really terrible situation in terms of what AI is doing to kids” and that self‑regulation is unrealistic.

Siegel’s move to Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media, a children’s online advocacy group established in 2003, launched the Youth AI Safety Institute in May 2026 as a research organisation to assess children’s use of artificial intelligence. Siegel will serve as its first executive director, tasked with developing independent standards to hold AI firms accountable. He told Reuters he hoped to do so by working alongside companies and third‑party groups, modelling the approach on car crash‑testing protocols. The institute’s backers include Anthropic and the OpenAI Foundation, the nonprofit entity that controls OpenAI. Siegel said the prospect of AI companies collaborating was uncertain but compelling for him to take the job.

Risks cited: suicide, psychosis, cognitive offloading

Siegel described a spectrum of harms ranging from suicide and psychosis to cognitive offloading, a term used for the decline in critical thinking that occurs when children lean on AI to answer questions. He said major AI companies are rolling out features to children without sufficient guardrails and that “very, very severe scenarios of harm” are emerging. As immediate steps, he urged Anthropic and OpenAI to enforce more robust age verification to stop underage access to their chatbots, and called on Google to add a toggle that disables AI Overviews and AI Mode in Search, analogous to the existing filter for sexually explicit content. Siegel argued that while such measures might affect usage or profits in the short term, inaction would expose companies to lawsuits and regulation with heavier business impact.

Company responses

A Google spokesperson said parents can already disable a child’s access to the search engine completely, and added that “Our AI Search features are an incredibly useful way for kids and teens to learn, explore and make sense of information and the world.” An OpenAI spokesperson said the company uses “account and behavioral signals” in addition to self‑reported age to identify underage users, and that it continuously tests and improves these systems, including against attempts to bypass safeguards. Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meta chatbot document prompted congressional probe

Social media companies face thousands of lawsuits and large settlements over alleged harm to young users, while governments work to curb minors’ access to their platforms. Reuters reported in 2025 on an internal Meta document stating its chatbots could “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,” prompting a congressional probe. Regulation has not kept pace with AI development. Siegel left Google in 2019 after concluding the industry was “plateauing” in its ability to create safe online spaces for consumers. He subsequently co‑founded TrustLab, a startup building tools to detect safety threats, and stepped aside as its chief executive earlier in September 2026 to take the Common Sense Media position.