If you have young kids or if you know somebody who does, then you know about YouTube’s AI slop problem.

Videos targeted at children on the platform are often filled with bizarre and hyperstimulating content that’s AI generated. Not all of it is age-appropriate. These videos autoplay on endless, algorithmically curated streams punctuated by ads.

Maka, a new streaming app for kids aged 0 to 6, is positioning itself as an antidote to that concern. The platform has zero ads, doesn’t allow autoplay or endless scrolling, and its algorithms intentionally do not maximize watch time.

The company’s cofounder and chief product officer Tanyella Leta tells WIRED the platform is purposely abandoning the mechanisms that “turn children’s media into an engagement machine.”

Maka’s CEO and cofounder Isabel Sheinman adds that a lot of the streamers were built to serve adults, not children. “Kids were really the afterthought,” she says. Sheinman wants to set a much higher bar for what quality looks like in children’s media, which she says has been warped by harmful incentives. “Maka was built with child development science and children's behavior first and foremost.”

Launching today, Maka’s programming slate is a mix of licensed content from global studios and independent creators. It features 25 shows in its curated catalog, including Franklin, The Wiggles, Pocoyo, Vida the Vet and Sesame Street. The platform runs on a subscription service, with a $15 monthly plan and a $107 annual plan.

It was during the Covid pandemic that Sheinman and Leta became obsessed with thinking about how to redesign kids' media.

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