OpenAI unveils European youth safety blueprint and €500,000 in grants

OpenAI has published a European Youth Safety Blueprint and named the first twelve recipients of its €500,000 EMEA Youth & Wellbeing Grant, aiming to shape how policymakers and civil society protect young people as AI becomes part of their everyday lives.

The announcement, made by the company's policy team, pairs a five-pillar policy framework for European regulators with direct funding for organizations working on the front lines of youth safety, mental health, and AI literacy across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

A policy pitch to Brussels and beyond

The Blueprint sets out five pillars for policymakers who want to strengthen protections for young people in the age of AI while, in OpenAI's words, "preserving access to tools that support learning, creativity, and opportunity." The company argues Europe needs an approach that is "practical, evidence-led, and focused on how young people actually use AI."

The five pillars cover:

• Responsible AI adoption in education
• Age-appropriate experiences supported by safeguards and privacy-preserving age assurance
• Under-18 safety policies to identify and mitigate risks
• Protections against manipulative or deceptive AI outputs
• Common standards for accessible parental controls

OpenAI frames the document as a contribution rather than a prescription. "These are not the only answers, but we hope they are a useful contribution to ongoing efforts of getting this right," the company wrote.

The stakes are significant for OpenAI's European business. The EU's regulatory environment for AI remains contested territory for US technology companies, and youth safety has become a focal point for lawmakers, educators, and parents as teenage AI usage grows. By publishing a policy blueprint, OpenAI positions itself as a constructive participant in that debate while defending young users' access to its tools.

"Today's young people will be the first generation to grow up with AI as part of everyday life, shaping how they learn, create, and prepare for the future," said Ann O'Leary, VP Global Policy at OpenAI. "Getting this right matters and we look forward to working with European policymakers and civil society towards that goal."

Twelve grant recipients across three continents

The EMEA Youth & Wellbeing Grant, launched in January as part of OpenAI's broader European initiative, distributes €500,000 across NGOs and research organizations. The twelve recipients span Ukraine, France, Germany, Kenya, the UK, Jordan, Ireland, Italy, and the global research community.

The funded projects include:

• Centre for Information Policy Leadership: research on AI-driven age estimation within broader age-assurance systems
• East Europe Foundation (Ukraine): research into how teens in conflict-affected countries use AI for learning and mental health support
• e-Enfance (France): youth wellbeing and digital literacy projects and training
• FSM (Germany): AI literacy tools for parents, teachers, and educators
• Luma (Kenya): an AI-powered e-tutor for young people in remote communities
• Mental Health Innovations (UK): evaluation of chatbot-based signposting into crisis support services
• OPEN (France): extension of ongoing NUAJE research into AI's impact on young people
• Open Source Association (Jordan): research on AI-assisted reporting systems for survivors of trafficking and gender-based violence
• Parent Zone (UK): AI literacy support for parents and policy and product-design learnings on helping young people use AI
• Teen Turn (Ireland): a program providing young girls from disadvantaged backgrounds with AI literacy skills to promote digital equity
• Telefono Azzurro (Italy): support for AzzurroChat, an AI-based mental health and digital wellbeing platform for teens
• UNICRI Centre for AI and Robotics: AI literacy for teachers and schools globally

The spread of projects signals where OpenAI sees open questions about youth AI use: age verification technology, crisis support pathways, AI's effects on learning outcomes, and protection of vulnerable groups, including trafficking survivors and children in conflict zones. Independent research from these grantees could inform both product design and future policy positions — or produce findings the company does not welcome.

Part of a broader safety architecture

OpenAI ties the announcements to its existing youth safety portfolio. That includes under-18 principles for model behavior added to its Model Spec, an age prediction model, parental controls, and AI literacy resources for teens and parents. The company says its approach is informed by an Expert Council on Well-Being and AI and a Global Physician Network.

In Europe specifically, OpenAI is working with governments and institutions through its Education for Countries program to deploy AI in education, and with Estonia's University of Tartu on research measuring AI learning outcomes. The company was a founding member of the Beneficial AI for Children coalition and joined leaders at the Vatican in November 2025 in backing a declaration on children's rights and dignity in AI.

The company acknowledges the work is unfinished. "Youth safety is ongoing work. We're committed to making strong teen protections and improving them over time to better support teens and families," OpenAI wrote.

For European regulators drafting AI rules that affect minors, the Blueprint offers a industry-shaped starting framework — one that emphasizes access alongside protection. Whether policymakers adopt that framing, and what the twelve funded research projects find about how teenagers actually use AI, will shape the next round of this debate.