Perplexity's AI search is not a safer choice for kids than Google, Youth AI Safety Institute finds
A study by the Youth AI Safety Institute found that Perplexity's AI search engine is not safer for children than Google, assigning it an 'Unacceptable Risk' rating. The report highlights failures in providing accurate crisis support and a tendency to treat minors like adult users.
Why it matters
As AI search tools become standard for students, this research raises critical concerns about the lack of age-appropriate safety guardrails in generative AI products.
In testing, Perplexity was found to be no safer than other search engines
Neither Google nor the rival AI engine, Perplexity, are safe for children according to tests carried out by the Youth AI Safety Institute.
A new risk assessment of Perplexity found that even when young people disclose their age, it largely treats them like adults and delivers unevenly on its core promise of more accurate answers.
It also repeatedly failed to provide useful help when testers simulated 15-year-olds in crisis. These problems prompted the Institute, a not-for-profit based in California, to assign Perplexity its lowest rating of Unacceptable Risk.
Geoffrey A Fowler, the Institute’s Head of Public Engagement, said Perplexity was tested over the same period as Google Search, running more than 1,200 search using the same, or functionally similar, prompts.
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