Former Google Executive Warns AI Risks to Children Could Surpass Social Media

Tom Siegel, founder of Google's Trust & Safety team, warned that AI tools pose deeper harms to children than social media and announced he is taking charge of Common Sense Media's Teen AI Safety Institute. The initiative, supported by Anthropic and the OpenAI Foundation, aims to establish accountability standards and safety evaluations for AI companies targeting young users. The warning underscores growing alarm that rapidly deployed AI features could cause mental health issues, suicide risks, and cognitive decline through over-reliance on chatbots. As tech regulators increasingly scrutinize digital youth protection, independent safety benchmarks could shape future legislation and pressure tech giants to implement stricter controls. Siegel advocated for practical measures like allowing users to disable AI Overviews in Google Search and implementing robust age-verification controls across platforms. In response, Google highlighted its existing parental control features, while OpenAI noted it uses account signals alongside self-reported age to identify underage users.