Natalie Gibson
Founder & CEO
Natalie Gibson is the Founder and CEO of HeyOtto, an AI platform built to help children safely explore artificial intelligence with meaningful parental visibility and control. She has spent her career building products in highly regulated environments, with experience spanning privacy, security, and data protection frameworks including COPPA, GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-aligned systems. Her work has consistently focused on trust, safety, and building technology where compliance and user protection are foundational—not optional. Natalie started HeyOtto after experiencing firsthand how quickly children began using general-purpose AI tools that were never designed for them. As a parent, she saw a gap between what kids were capable of using and what families could responsibly trust. That gap became the foundation for HeyOtto. Today, she leads product vision and company direction with a focus on age-adaptive AI, parental sovereignty, and transparent system design. Her work centers on one belief: families should not have to choose between powerful AI and safe AI.
Areas of Expertise
Content by Natalie Gibson
Blog Posts
Introducing AI Video Generation
HeyOtto! launches AI Video for kids and teens 8–18. Start from an idea, turn a book into a video, or turn an image into a video. No face uploads.
Safe AI Video Generation for Kids: What Parents Check First
Parent checklist for kid video tools—filters, no adult generators, you can see output—plus prompts. Kids start from an idea, a storybook, or an image.
Deepfakes of Your Kid: Lock the Photos, Then Take Them Down
How to lock kids' photos, talk about deepfakes, and use official Take It Down steps if an image is already out.
Dana Suskind’s DETECT Checklist: How to Evaluate AI for Your Kid
Dana Suskind’s DETECT checklist for kids AI: design, ethics, trouble, evidence, confidentiality, teachings. Companion is the red flag.
Does Your Kid's School Have an AI Policy? 7 Questions to Ask Before the First Bell
A June 2026 Georgia audit found 95% of teachers use AI while 27% got no training. Here are 7 questions parents should ask their kid's school before the first bell.
How Old Do You Have to Be to Use ChatGPT? Age Rules for Every Major AI (2026)
ChatGPT requires users to be 13+, with parental consent under 18. Here are the age rules for every major AI — and how each one actually enforces them.
Parenting in the Age of AI: What Parents are asking
52 real questions parents ask about AI and kids — safety, deepfakes, companions, ChatGPT, Roblox, homework, and more — answered directly, with sources.
HeyOtto Named Best Kid-Friendly AI in the 2026 SafeWise Kids Safety Awards
HeyOtto was named Best Kid-Friendly AI in the 2026 SafeWise Kids Safety Awards — the first year kids AI was recognized as a formal safety category.
Vibe Coding for Kids: Build Real Apps, Games, and Stories With AI — No Coding Experience Needed
Vibe coding lets kids describe apps, games, and stories in plain English — and AI builds them. A parent's guide to getting started safely on HeyOtto.
Kids Aren't Just Using AI Anymore — They're Building With It
Vibe coding is turning kids into creators — not just AI consumers. Here's why that matters and how the HeyOtto Marketplace gives them a safe place to build and share.
Resources & Articles
HeyOtto Launches Passport, Giving Schools One Place to See Every AI Tool Their Students Use
Schools can now keep a single continuous safety record for each student instead of a separate one inside every AI product.
AI School Project Video: The Master Prompt
School project video prompt. Copy this template into HeyOtto to plan a short original explainer from an idea or an image. No real student faces.
AI Story Video: The Master Prompt
Story video prompt for kids. Copy this template into HeyOtto to plan an original short or book-trailer — from an idea or a storybook. No copyrighted characters by name.
AI How-To Video: The Master Prompt
How to video prompt for kids. Copy this template into HeyOtto to plan a club, hobby, or skill how-to from an idea or an image.
How to Start an AI Club at School: Parent Starter Kit
Copy-paste starter kit for parents: teacher-sponsor one-pager, permission language, house rules, and an 8-week club plan that does not use ChatGPT.
AI Homework Help: The Ultimate Tutor Prompt
Homework help prompt. Copy this fill-in-the-blank tutor template into HeyOtto for patient, step-by-step homework help that teaches instead of handing over answers.
Introducing the HeyOtto Marketplace: The App Store Where Kids Are the Creators
The HeyOtto Marketplace is a curated library of apps, games, tools and more—vetted for safety, age-appropriateness, and family values. Build it. Share it. Own it.
Product Launch: HeyOtto Is Now Available on iOS and Android
HeyOtto is now available on iOS and Android. Download the safe AI app for kids and teens with parental controls at heyotto.app/download.
The CHATBOT Act: What the New Bipartisan Bill on AI and Children Actually Requires
Summary of the 2026 CHATBOT Act: family accounts, default safeguards for kids, teen rules, verifiable parental consent, ad targeting ban for minors, and federal studies — plus what it does not cover.
The Parent's Complete Guide to AI Literacy for Kids: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Actually Teach It
A practical parent's guide to AI literacy: what LLMs are, why it matters by age, Socratic habits, prompts, fact-checking, privacy, and how to pick AI tools for kids — from the HeyOtto team.