AI firms sign Paris charter on research into AI and children
OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and Black Forest Labs backed independent research into how AI affects children. More than 50 countries, including the UK, signed a wider pledge on children's rights and wellbeing.
Four AI companies backed a charter on independent research into how AI affects children at the Paris Peace Forum on 10 November 2026.
The Charter of Engagement for Safer AI for Children, also published by the French presidency, says it has been endorsed by Anthropic, Black Forest Labs, Microsoft and OpenAI. It sets up a research network led by an independent scientific committee. Methods and results will be published, including null or negative findings. Companies may audit how their systems are tested, but the charter says this gives them no right to delay or suppress findings.
no AI should be placed in the hands of children without first being tested, evaluated, and therefore authorized.
The Paris Peace Forum said that AI developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic would join the nonprofit Common Sense Media in pledging €8m for research on AI and child development. The charter also asks for age checks that do not rely only on users stating their age. It calls for age-appropriate AI literacy for children.
The same day, more than 50 countries signed a separate Children First Declaration, the forum said. They include the UK, Australia, Canada and South Korea, along with UNICEF and UNESCO. The declaration covers five areas to 2045, among them education and children's wellbeing in the digital age.
Before the forum, AFP reported that a French expert committee was due to give President Emmanuel Macron advice on AI's effects on children's mental health, development and education. AFP said the charter is meant to inform national and European law-making.
The charter and the declaration are voluntary pledges, not laws. They set no new rules for schools. The charter says long-term research on children's use of generative AI is not yet available. For parents and teachers, its main promise is independent, published evidence on how AI affects learning and development.
The forum has not said how the €8m is shared between the funders. It is not known when the scientific committee will be named or when findings will appear.
Sources
- Paris Peace Forum A global commitment to secure a better future for every child
- Coalition for Children's Rights and Protection in the Age of AI Charter of Engagement for Safer AI for Children
- Élysée Charte d'engagement pour une intelligence artificielle plus sûre pour les enfants
- AFP, via L'info durable L'IA et la protection de l'enfance au coeur du Forum de Paris sur la Paix