AI Safeguards Aren’t Protecting Teens, Study Finds

October 12, 2026

A new AI-powered app called ChatGPT for Teens, touted as safer for young users, still fails to provide adequate protections, according to a new study reported by NPR, though its developer disputes the findings. In Issues, J. B. Branch maintains that such safety gaps stem, in part, from the US approach to regulating artificial intelligence, which “has prioritized defending the industry’s innovation capability over safeguarding vulnerable populations.” Arguing that “the stakes are too high to rely on industry self-regulation,” he offers a range of federal policy options that center on protecting young people’s health and emotional well-being—without stifling useful commercial advances.

Posted by Tom Burroughs