The reborn gaming and streaming platform Noggin has acquired AI search company Hello Wonder to improve curation and discovery of Noggin’s educational content, and to develop kid-safe AI tech as part of its toolkit. 

Hello Wonder operates a “faith-based” AI companion and kid-safe search browser for five- to 10-year-olds. Children can speak to an AI chatbot and receive age-appropriate answers, videos and games. It’s intended to be a walled-garden experience when searching for content online. It was founded by Seth Raphael, Brian Backus and Daniel Shiplacoff, who have backgrounds in AI, game production and product design, respectively. The tool has web and mobile versions and has also been piloted in schools.

Noggin isn’t sharing the financial details of the acquisition.

Noggin was previously a kid-friendly SVOD owned by Paramount Global. But back in September, CEO Kristen Kane announced that it was returning as an independent gaming platform focused on helping kids discover real-world interests and hobbies, like cooking, fashion and music.

Hello Wonder’s kid-safe approach to AI, as well as a shared mission around helping kids explore their passions, motivated Noggin to acquire the company, Kane says. 

Hello Wonder has a direct-to-consumer model, and acquiring the business, instead of just licensing its tech, gives Noggin greater access to AI-backed capabilities, Kane says. These include conversational search functions, so that kids using Noggin will be able to search by speaking about their interests and AI can find relevant content. Eventually, Kane plans to incorporate AI companions that can help answer questions within Noggin.  

“[Hello Wonder] has spent years building tools that make AI more safe and developmentally appropriate for children—values that Noggin shares,” Kane tells Kidscreen. “Though we explored a commercial relationship, licensing the tech wouldn’t have allowed us to fully integrate their approach into our experience, and it became clear that there was a bigger opportunity to pursue together.” 

Noggin is also testing AI that will eventually let kids co-create games within Noggin that they could play and share with their friends, adds Kane. 

Noggin has an ambitious roadmap that includes new games and licensed and original programming, and, eventually, live location-based experiences tied to the in-game content, like baking or music clubs. Noggin says it’s still on the hunt to license art and sciences content that it can add to the service, Kane says.