OpenAI and Anthropic Pledge $8.9 Million for AI and Child Safety Research

What Is New

• OpenAI has committed $2 million to research regarding AI and children’s safety [1].
• OpenAI and Anthropic have pledged €8 million ($8.9 million) to fund research and tools concerning the interaction between AI and child development [2].
• The UAE, along with dozens of other countries including Australia, Egypt, South Africa, Spain, Germany, and the UN, signed the Children First Declaration [2].
• The declaration, promoted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Paris Peace Forum, aims to protect children from untested AI models [2].
• The declaration focuses on five pillars: health, nutrition, education, protection, and psychosocial well-being, with a target for tangible results by 2045 [2].
• Philippe Etienne, president of the Paris Peace Forum, stated the goal is to equip researchers with resources to understand technology impacts on development [2].

Limits, Privacy and Academic Integrity

According to President Emmanuel Macron, the declaration emphasizes that no AI should be placed in the hands of children without being tested, evaluated, and authorized [2]. The research funded by the $8.9 million pledge aims to provide tools to measure both the risks and the opportunities for young people [1, 2]. The initiative seeks to coordinate actions between local authorities, national authorities, international organizations, and the private sector to invest in children’s rights and well-being [2].