Israeli start-up launches Yuvi Lab, safe AI space for children

An Israeli startup founded by a reservist father is transforming children’s screen time into a tool for learning, creativity, and future-ready skills, in collaboration with Microsoft. Moti Malka, an IDF reservist and father of 4, has developed Yuvi Lab, a new AI-powered platform designed to shift children away from passive gaming and toward building their own applications, games, and digital projects. Inspired by his 10-year-old son, Malka began developing the free-to-use platform after witnessing the growing impact of screen addiction at home, an experience that deepened during his reserve service following October 7. “When I returned home, I saw my children glued to screens, playing for hours,” Malka said. “Even positive platforms can become overwhelming. I wanted to create something that would channel that time into creativity and learning.”

Working alongside a close colleague and his son, Malka built Yuvi Lab as a shared father-and-son project. “We combined creativity with education, building something we would genuinely want our own children to spend time on,” he said.

Since its launch in March, when the war with Iran started, the free-to-use platform has already attracted over 2,000 active users, who have collectively created more than 6,000 projects. Municipalities across Israel and non-formal educational organisations are now exploring integrating Yuvi Lab into after-school enrichment programmes.

Available in English, Hebrew, Russian, and Arabic, Yuvi Lab enables children to create educational games and interactive learning modules to practice course material within minutes. Its multi-agent AI architecture combines advanced language models with code-optimised systems, using smart routing to match each task, whether learning, coding, or problem-solving, to the most suitable AI model.

A safe and ethical digital environment

At the core of Yuvi Lab is a commitment to safety and ethical use of AI for children. The platform is built according to ‘Privacy by Design’ principles, ensuring that no personally identifiable data is stored. All AI-generated content undergoes rigorous safety filtering before reaching users, protecting children from inappropriate or harmful material, and is regulated under Microsoft’s strict ethical AI protocol, ensuring all information stays within the platform.

Preparing the next generation

Unlike traditional gaming platforms, Yuvi Lab is designed to teach children how to actively create with technology rather than just consume it. “We wanted to create a new way of learning, what we call ‘Vibe Coding’, that speaks the language of today’s generation,” Malka said. “Children aren’t just playing; they’re building, experimenting, and thinking creatively.” Malka says the platform’s mission is rooted in a simple idea: that every child should be empowered to understand and shape the technologies that will define their future. “The platform was born out of a desire to turn screen time into meaningful development,” he said.

“In an AI-driven world, children need real skills. They should know how to use these tools creatively, safely, and confidently. Our vision is to help children become not just users of AI, but creators—giving them the tools to think long-term, solve problems, and innovate.”

A partner for teachers

Rather than replacing teachers, Yuvi is a partner, not least, to help with children who are less autonomous learners. Teachers from around Israel are now piloting the technology to use as an extra-curricular and in-class learning aid, the system adapting to each child’s level, language, and learning style, while a built-in ‘smart assistant’ remembers preferences and interests over time.

“Yuvi is a co-pilot for teachers, not a substitute. It helps educators turn learning into active practice and creation, making it easier to engage students and support those who struggle with independent learning,” Malka said as the platform is now being used in a pilot by teachers in Israel. And rather than limiting children’s critical thinking skills, there is an opportunity to enhance them.  

“We discuss with teachers how they can teach critical thinking using AI. We know AI isn’t 100% accurate because of the sources of information, which is usually public information. So it’s important that teachers teach children critical thinking, to cross-check and ask questions, so that we don’t take an answer for granted and instead keep thinking ahead.

“It’s an ongoing discussion as we build this kind of technology. We are on a journey, and we will never reach the destination. That’s also why, in Yuvi, after a learning module is generated, we added an additional human-review layer: teachers can edit and validate the content before using it with students,” he added.

Bringing children into STEM

And it is already having tangible results. Following the 2024 results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a global study by the OECD that evaluates education systems by testing 15-year-old students’ skills in reading, mathematics, and science, Israel performed poorly, dropping in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) subjects. It sparked a new drive by Israel’s Ministry of Education.

“Yuvi contributes to this as it creates another channel for children to be interested in subjects like Maths,” Malka said. “Vibe coding is a way to enter STEM. Being able to code without specific skills doesn’t mean we don’t have to learn those skills so Yuvi has the opportunity to open new interests in STEM and vibe coding.

“From the preliminary outputs, we’ve got amazing results, especially with girls in the periphery in Israel, addressing the gender and socio-economic gaps in STEM, which are prevalent not only in Israel, but globally. There is huge potential for this in the future. It can truly bring value to the market and education.”