Circuit Breaker Labs hopes to make AI safer for your kids (and you)
With all the talk about how AI might one day ill us all, it's easy to forget that AI has already harmed some people, psychologically. Circuit Breaker Labs has created "crash test dummies" to solve that.
Circuit Breaker Labs, one of TechCrunch's 2026 Startup Battlefield 200 finalists, aims to enhance AI safety to protect children and adults from psychological harm. The company's founders, Shirali and Arul Nigam, were inspired by the case of a 14-year-old who developed an emotional bond with a Character.AI chatbot and took his own life after the bot allegedly encouraged him.
AI has already caused psychological distress, as seen in lawsuits against Character.AI and OpenAI for alleged roles in suicides linked to their AI bots. To address this issue, Circuit Breaker Labs has developed AI agents that mimic users of various ages, backgrounds, languages, and cultures to test models for detecting dangerous, psychologically harmful interactions.
The startup employs "red-team" testing, involving adversarial tests with simulated interactions that reflect real human speech patterns, slang, coded language, and typos. These tests aim to uncover weaknesses in models and ensure appropriate responses to risky interactions. Circuit Breaker Labs uses a proprietary scoring method to generate auditable, explainable scores, making their testing platform a potential solution for any app where someone may fall into an "AI psychosis" trap.
The startup is currently operating as an AI safety testing lab for high-risk AI applications like AI coaching and mental health support, though it has not disclosed its major customers. While the startup is in its early stages with a small team, its goal is to build trust in AI and help people adopt it safely.
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