OpenAI Secretly Funded California Child Safety Coalition Backing Age Verification

OpenAI secretly funded a California advocacy coalition pushing age-verification requirements for AI systems while simultaneously selling its own age-verification services, according to reporting published April 1, 2026, by the San Francisco Standard and the Wall Street Journal.

The Parents and Kids Safe AI Coalition, which lobbied for California's Parents and Kids Safe AI Act, reportedly omitted OpenAI from all public outreach and marketing materials. Advocacy groups working alongside the coalition were unaware of the company's financial backing, according to the reports. Critics argue the arrangement creates a direct conflict of interest, as CEO Sam Altman's firm stands to profit from the very regulatory requirements the coalition promoted.

The disclosure arrives as state legislatures nationwide debate mandatory age-verification frameworks for AI platforms. California's bill would require companies to implement identity checks before allowing minors to access generative AI tools, a mandate that could create new revenue streams for firms offering verification infrastructure.

(The reporting relies on investigative journalism from two outlets but does not include direct confirmation from OpenAI or coalition representatives. No public statements from the company addressing the funding arrangement have been cited in available sources.)

OpenAI's stealth lobbying strategy mirrors tactics used by technology incumbents in prior regulatory battles, where companies fund ostensibly independent coalitions to shape policy while avoiding direct association. The approach allows firms to influence legislation without the reputational risk of overt lobbying, particularly on issues involving child safety where public scrutiny is intense. Meta faced similar criticism in 2021 when internal documents revealed the company had funded research groups that later defended its platforms in congressional hearings.

The revelation adds pressure to ongoing debates over AI industry self-regulation versus external oversight. Lawmakers in California and Washington have increasingly questioned whether companies developing AI systems should simultaneously control the infrastructure used to regulate access to those systems, a dynamic that concentrates both technological and policy power in the hands of a small number of firms.