OpenAI will soon permit “erotica” for ChatGPT users as part of the company’s push to “treat adult users like adults”.

Users will need to verify their age on the platform once the company launches “age-gating more fully,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X.

Earlier in the month, OpenAI hinted at allowing developers to create “mature” ChatGPT apps after it implements the “appropriate age verification and controls”. The company is yet to offer details on its age verification methods or additional safeguards planned for adult content.

The strategy is reminiscent of Elon Musk’s xAI and its recent introduction of two sexually explicit chatbots that appear as 3D anime models in the Grok app, which may attract more paying subscribers. At the same time, it may increase pressure on lawmakers to implement tighter restrictions on chatbot companions.

According to Altman, existing versions of ChatGPT were made “pretty restrictive” to protect users from mental health risks. He believes the approach has made the chatbot “less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems”.

OpenAI has since launched tools to “better” detect when a user is in mental distress. “Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases,” said Altman.

The changes are coming after disturbing stories of the apparently bleak influence ChatGPT can have on users, including the death of 16-year-old Adam Raine. It’s unclear why Adam took his life. But it is known that he was spending many hours talking about suicidal thoughts with the chatbot.

Besides the rollout in December, Altman also said a new version of ChatGPT will be launched in the coming weeks. It “behaves more like what people liked about 4o”. It will allow the chatbot to adopt more distinct personalities.

“If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it,” he said. “But only if you want it.”

This year, Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on online safety for
families, asked 1,060 US teens how and why they are using AI. The results: 72 per cent of teens have tried talking to an AI companion, and 52 per cent do so regularly (a few times a month or more).