LivePerson Founder Launches Alternative to YouTube Kids After Personal Wake-Up Call

Rob LoCascio's new venture aims to replace passive screen time with creative AI interaction

LOS ALTOS, CA, UNITED STATES, October 24, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- When Robert LoCascio's four-year-old son Lorenzo began spending four hours daily watching YouTube unboxing videos, the tech entrepreneur recognized a problem he couldn't solve with existing products on the market.

"The tantrums when we tried to turn it off were unlike anything we'd seen before," said LoCascio, founder and former CEO of publicly-traded conversational AI company LivePerson. "The algorithms kept pulling him deeper, not toward educational content, but toward whatever kept him watching longest."

That experience drove LoCascio to launch Kid Company and build the KID device, a voice-powered creative tool designed as a direct alternative to algorithm-driven video platforms. Now available for pre-order at kidco.ai ahead of the 2025 holiday season, LoCascio is deploying nearly three decades of AI expertise to solve what he describes as a child development crisis that Big Tech created and has ignored.

From Problem to Solution
After exhausting options including Toniebox audio players (which require purchasing individual story cards at $15-20 each), tablet parental controls, and various app subscriptions, LoCascio experimented with a different approach: using AI to help his son create stories rather than consume them.

"I started having him dictate stories, adventures in space, creatures with different colors, and we'd build on them each night," LoCascio explained. "Over a week, we created an eight-chapter story that we printed and bound. He stopped asking for YouTube entirely because he wanted to keep working on his own story."

That experience became the foundation for the KID device, which uses conversational AI to guide children through creative activities, including storytelling, character development, and educational exploration through voice interaction.
The Research Context

LoCascio's concerns about algorithm-driven children's content align with growing research into screen time's effects. Common Sense Media's 2021 census found that children ages 8-12 spend an average of 5 hours and 33 minutes daily on entertainment screens, while teens average 8 hours and 39 minutes—up 17% from 2019.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has linked excessive passive screen time to attention difficulties, language delays, and sleep disruption. A 2019 JAMA Pediatrics study identified associations between higher screen use and reduced brain white matter development in preschoolers—regions critical for language and literacy.

Dr. Jenny Radesky of the University of Michigan, in an NIH interview, noted that many platforms "learn what kids like and offer them more of it," creating engagement patterns that children struggle to break away from.

A 2020 Pew Research study found 71% of parents with children under 12 worry their kids spend too much time in front of screens.

How It Works
Unlike tablets or smartphones, the KID device does require an online connection but has no internet access and has no access to YouTube, TikTok, or other video platforms. Instead, it uses voice recognition and AI to engage children in creating content rather than consuming it.

The device generates stories based on children's verbal input, creates printable artwork from their descriptions, and adapts its responses based on the child's age and previous interactions. A companion app allows parents to monitor activity, set time limits, adjust content parameters, and create custom educational prompts.

Content updates are delivered through the parent-controlled app rather than through open internet access, giving families control over what their children can access.

Market Positioning
The KID device is priced at $299.99 with a $19.99 monthly subscription for ongoing content updates and features. This positions it as a premium alternative to both ad-supported free platforms and existing audio-focused devices that require purchasing individual content pieces.
The company is targeting the educational technology market, projected to exceed $50 billion globally, with particular focus on parents seeking alternatives to passive screen consumption.

Buy now at kidco.ai!

About Robert LoCascio
LoCascio founded LivePerson in 1995, pioneering web-based customer service chat and building the company into a publicly-traded leader in conversational AI serving over 18,000 enterprise clients. He also founded EqualAI, a nonprofit focused on reducing bias in artificial intelligence systems.

He spent 28 years at LivePerson before launching his new company, The Kid Company.

Gregory Kirkham
KidCo.AI
+1 385-394-8902
greg@kidco.ai

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