Child safety group blasts YouTube for million dollar gamble on AI content for kids
YouTube still hasn't solved its AI problem. Digitally faked content is still seeping through the cracks, as users are inundated with AI-generated brainrot and AI-powered misinformation.
But Google, YouTube's parent company, believes it can at least assuage the worries of concerned parents — with even more AI.
YouTube bets on AI-powered kids media
On March 4, the tech giant announced it was investing $1 million into the AI-powered children's entertainment company Animaj, the first kids media business backed by Google’s AI Future Funds accelerator, Bloomberg reported. Under the deal, Animaj will also get exclusive access to its generative AI tools, like Veo and Imagine.
Behind the scenes, AI slop — particularly AI slop created for babies — has become one of the easiest ways to make a killing online. And YouTube is particularly rife ground, as the video viewing platform attracts the youngest demographic of child viewers.
Google has acknowledged its AI slop problem before, and even made efforts to demonetize accounts that post "low quality clutter." But studies show that children are still regularly recommended AI slop by YouTube's algorithms. A New York Times analysis published in February found thousands of examples of AI slop targeting young viewers, including ones that violate YouTube's child safety policies. In addition, YouTube does not require AI labelling on animated videos, the Times reported.
"It's not unlike Google to try to deflect attention from the real issue: AI slop is rampant on YouTube and YouTube kids, which puts developing children at risk of harm," said Rachel Franz, director of Fairplay for Kids' Young Children Thrive Offline program. Fairplay is a child safety nonprofit that researches the impact of screen time and commercial advertising on early childhood. "If 'managing AI slop' was really YouTube's top priority this year," said Franz, "they would have already taken down the millions of AI-generated 'Made for Kids' videos that are designed to entrance young children, leading to more screen time and displacing the activities they need to thrive offline."
What is Animaj?
Animaj is an AI content studio geared toward children's media. A 2026 show reel highlighting the company's flagship brands shows Animaji's particular emphasis on popular kids' IP, including Pocoyo and Ubisoft's Rabbids. "Animaj is a next-generation media company building the future of kids’ entertainment," the video description reads. "We acquire and grow iconic children’s IPs such as Pocoyo and Maya the Bee into global franchises through a digital-first, multi-platform strategy powered by AI-driven creativity."
Animaj scales existing IP using its proprietary AI tools, with the goal of bringing content "wherever kids are, whenever they want it." The company's co-founder Sixte de Vauplane has said he sees Animaj as proof of concept for high-quality, feature-length films powered by AI.
The company is affiliated with several kid-centric YouTube channels too, including the infant channel Hey Kids, a brand with more than 4 million subscribers. Bloomberg reported that the company's affiliated channels accumulated more than 22 billion views in 2025.
The problem isn't just AI
"These videos are pretty typical AI-generated videos that attract families because they are nursery rhymes and feature kid-friendly characters. But the videos are more about mesmerizing than anything else," said Franz.
Child safety advocates and education experts warn against content aimed at "mesmerizing" children with stimulating visuals and music, instead steering families toward evidence-based educational content with a slower pace and frequent interaction, like call-and-response queues. The American Academy of Pediatrics warns parents against AI-generated content and encourages them to choose longer-form videos over short-form content.
They need to fix their platform. Until that happens, no child is truly going to benefit.
Content that mesmerizes children — of which there is plenty on the platform — "displaces the time they need to spend playing, socializing, and using all their senses" during a period in which infants are still "wiring" their brains, said Franz. While this is a particular problem with AI-generated video, it also goes for human-created content, like the popular CocoMelon YouTube channel and even well-intentioned children's social media entertainers. "Now we have this layer of AI that has the potential to have unprecedented effects on our kids," she explains.
Replacing "low quality" slop with "high quality" kids content isn't a solution either, Franz argues, pointing at a body of research showing any screen time has adverse affects on children under the age of two. "Yet, Animaj's YouTube Channels are rife with videos for babies," said Franz. "If Google invests in [channels like] Hey Kids via Animaj, it means that it is investing in harming babies."
And even if you solve for content and age, there still a looming problem: The platform itself. Experts like Franz warn that the YouTube's very design is developmentally inappropriate for most children. Franz notes features like endless scrolling on reels, algorithm-based suggested videos, and the inability to turn off automatic playing as adverse to healthy development recommendations.
With it's focus on existing IP, Animaj may not be in the business of generating the kind of surreal, often obscene, brain rot peddled by hundreds of other YouTube creators. Nonetheless, Franz worries that the normalization of AI and its generative tools may supercharge an industry that is doing the opposite of what early childhood researchers recommend.
In a LinkedIn post last week, AI Futures Fund director Jon Silber said that Animaj is presenting a "blueprint for the future." He wrote that "getting this right for the next generation is a huge priority" for Google.
"If YouTube wants to try to make good content, fine. But they need to fix their platform. Until that happens, no child is truly going to benefit," said Franz.