Ex-Google trust and safety chief Tom Siegel joins Common Sense Media's new AI safety institute
Tom Siegel, formerly Google's vice president of trust and safety, told Reuters that AI is harming children at a scale exceeding social media's damage. He has become the first executive director of the Youth AI Safety Institute, a new initiative launched by children's advocacy group Common Sense Media, which counts Anthropic and the OpenAI Foundation among its backers.
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Siegel's move suggests growing pressure from within the tech industry itself to impose external oversight on AI companies, rather than trusting them to self-regulate. His remarks come amid lawsuits alleging chatbots contributed to teen suicides, which could intensify calls for regulation or liability standards specific to AI products aimed at or accessible to minors.
- A former Google trust and safety VP says AI may be harming kids more severely than social media did.
- He now leads a newly formed Youth AI Safety Institute under Common Sense Media, backed partly by Anthropic and OpenAI Foundation.
- The warning follows lawsuits alleging AI chatbots contributed to teen suicides, including a widely reported case involving OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Bark parental control phone monitoring service — As AI chatbots raise new concerns about child safety online, tools like Bark help parents monitor texts, apps, and web activity for signs of risky interactions. It's a practical way to add oversight while the industry sorts out better AI safeguards for kids.
See Bark parental control phone monitoring service on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: futurism.com — Frank Landymore, 2026-09-23
Published there as: “Former Google Exec Warns That AI Could Be Causing Terrible Harm to Minors, Even Worse Than Social Media”
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