OpenAI will soon allow “erotica” for ChatGPT users who verify their age on the platform. In an X article published on Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company will add support for mature conversations when the age restriction launches in December.
“As we roll out the age restriction further and as part of our principle of ‘treating adult users like adults,’ we will allow even more, such as erotica for verified adults,” Altman writes. Earlier this month, OpenAI hinted that it would allow developers to create “mature” ChatGPT applications after implementing “appropriate age verification and controls.”
Along with the addition of “erotica,” OpenAI also plans to release a new version of ChatGPT that “behaves more like what people loved in 4o.” Just a day after making GPT-5 the default model powering ChatGPT, OpenAI brought GPT-4o back as an option after people complained that the new model was less user-friendly.
Altman said OpenAI made ChatGPT “restrictive enough to ensure we were cautious around mental health issues,” adding that the company realized the change made the chatbot “less useful/enjoyable for many users who had no mental health issues.” OpenAI has since released tools to “better detect” when a user is in mental distress.
OpenAI also announced the formation of a “wellbeing and AI” council to help shape OpenAI’s response to “complex or sensitive” scenarios. The council is made up of a team of eight researchers and experts who study the impact of technology and AI on mental health. But, like Ars Technica The points out that it does not include any suicide prevention experts, many of whom have recently asked OpenAI to deploy additional protections for users with suicidal thoughts.
“Now that we have been able to alleviate serious mental health problems and have new tools at our disposal, we will be able to ease restrictions safely in most cases,” Altman writes in his article on X.
