Google invests $1 million in Animaj to create AI-generated children's content amid safety concerns

Google Backs Animaj Studio Using AI to Make Content for Kids on YouTube

Google is investing in an artificial intelligence content studio focused on making videos for children on YouTube, part of an effort to seed the platform with high quality viewing for the site's youngest users. Google's AI Futures Fund invested $1 million into Animaj, an AI animation studio that makes videos for kids and drew more than 22 billion views to its channels last year, according to co-founder Sixte de Vauplane. Google is also giving Animaj early access to new versions of its Veo, Gemini and Imagen AI models that are not available to the public, plus support from the Google DeepMind and Google Labs teams to help the company tailor its AI tools and scale.

Google Invests $1 Million in Company That Makes AI YouTube Videos for Kids

Animaj AI-generates videos based on existing kids' IP. Its co-founder claims to share your concerns about slop. Google is funneling $1 million from its AI Futures Fund accelerator program into a company called Animaj, which makes AI-generated videos for kids, according to Bloomberg. Animaj will also reportedly get early access to Google’s Veo video models before they’re released to the public, and will be given special insights from DeepMind, Google's AI division. According to Animaj’s YouTube channel description, it “acquires and turns iconic Kids’ IPs into global franchises using an AI-driven, digital-first, and multi-platform approach.†Here’s an Animaj video from two years ago: But the way, according to a recent piece of analysis by the research firm MoffettNathanson, YouTube just quietly became the world’s largest media company last year, beating Disney's media division. An analysis of YouTube content last month by the New York Times found in 15-minutes of watching content recommended after a popular, non-AI piece of content, 40% of what materialized appeared to be AI-generated, often without being labeled as such. This content is largely incoherent mush, like goo being sluiced out of containers into the shapes of animals, and animals transforming into thingsâ€"like a rhino transforming into a quadcopter drone. Bloomberg cites Animaj co-founder Sixte de Vauplane as saying the company drew 22 billion video views to YouTube across all of its channels. “Google knows the problem and the issue of AI slop that is happening right now on YouTube,†he told Bloomberg. This cash injection from Google is relatively minuscule. Animaj has, according to Bloomberg, previously raised 100 million euros from the VC firm Left Lane Capital, and $85 million from HarbourView Equity Partners.

'Harming babies': Child safety group blasts Google's investment in AI content for kids

AI-powered kids content wracks up billions of YouTube views, despite pervasive slop. Credit: Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP via Getty Images 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. 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." 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. "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. 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.

Google Wants To Know If Your Kids Will Watch AI Slop Videos

After years of struggling to get freaky children’s content in order on YouTube, the company goes full throttle Once upon a time, children’s YouTube was like Peppa Pig solved the Lament Configuration. Once that kid sneaks away with their parent’s tablet, the algorithm is unable to parse a child’s nonsense, basically placing a bounty on any account willing to bury Spider-Man’s head in the sand or force Elsa into the dentist’s chair. Now, Google seems eager to restart the nightmare machine all over again, investing in a company that specifically seeks to subject cartoon IPs to AI torture. According to Bloomberg, Google has invested $1 million into Animaj, an AI-focused animation studio for younger audiences. While not a ton of money in the grand scheme of venture capital, it is the first kids' studio to receive direct funding from YouTube. Additionally, Google is also onboarding Animaj into their DeepMind program, as well as early access to Veo, their video generator. “Google knows the problem and the issue of AI slop,†says Animaj co-founder Sixte de Vauplane, referencing one of the no-no terms in the AI world. “They know that right now, you don’t have a lot of people and a lot of players in the kids media industry that have really proven their ability to use AI in a very good way.†It’s an open secret that YouTube has become something of an automated babysitter in many households. It took over a decade to temper down the more surreal and predatory aspects of what kids are exposing themselves to on the platform, not to mention a $170 million suit from the FTC over privacy concerns. CoComelon, Blippi, and Ms. Rachel are close enough to a normal kid’s entertainment environment online compared to the Minion red rooms that predate them. Even if Facebook and TikTok remain the kingdoms of AI slop, AI-generated videos have proliferated on YouTube just as they have across all major platforms. It’s inevitably going to be a source of soreness for the company. As Google seeks to embrace AI-generated material as a whole, YouTube is forced to referee anyone who wants to take intellectual properties for a spin or throw in the towel on misinformation campaigns.