OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced in an article published on Tuesday
“We made ChatGPT quite restrictive to ensure we were careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable for many users who had no mental health issues, but given the severity of the issue, we wanted to get it right,” Altman said. “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, like erotica for verified adults.”
This announcement marks a notable turning point in OpenAI’s months-long effort to resolve the concerning relationships some mentally unstable users have developed with ChatGPT. Altman appears to declare an early victory over these issues, saying that OpenAI has “been able to alleviate the serious mental health issues” around ChatGPT. However, the company has provided little to no evidence on this and is now considering allowing ChatGPT to engage in sexually explicit chats with users.
Several worrying stories emerged this summer around ChatGPT, particularly its GPT-4o model, suggesting that the AI chatbot could lead vulnerable users down delusional rabbit holes. In one case, ChatGPT appeared to convince a man that he was a mathematical genius who needed to save the world. In another case, the parents of a teenager sued OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT encouraged their son’s suicidal thoughts in the weeks before his death.
In response, OpenAI released a series of security features to combat AI sycophancy: the tendency of an AI chatbot to hook users into agreeing with everything they say, even negative behaviors.
OpenAI launched GPT-5 in August, a new AI model that has lower sycophancy rates and has a router that can identify concerning user behavior. A month later, OpenAI launched safety features for minors, including an age prediction system and a way for parents to control their teen’s ChatGPT account. OpenAI announced Tuesday the formation of an expert council of mental health professionals to advise the company on wellness and AI.
Just months after these disturbing stories were published, OpenAI appears to believe that ChatGPT’s issues regarding vulnerable users are under control. It’s unclear whether users still fall into delusional rabbit holes with GPT-5. And although GPT-4o is no longer the default in ChatGPT, the AI model is still available today and used by thousands of people.
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OpenAI did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
The introduction of erotica to ChatGPT is uncharted territory for OpenAI and raises broader concerns about how vulnerable users will interact with the new features. Although Altman insists that OpenAI doesn’t “maximize usage” or optimize engagement, making ChatGPT more erotic could certainly attract users.
Allowing chatbots to engage in romantic or erotic role-play has been an effective engagement strategy for other AI chatbot providers, such as Character.AI. The company has gained tens of millions of users, many of whom use its chatbots heavily. Character.AI said in 2023 users spent an average of two hours a day talking to its chatbots. The company also faces a lawsuit over how it handles vulnerable users.
OpenAI is under pressure to grow its user base. With ChatGPT already used by 800 million weekly active users, OpenAI is racing against Google and Meta to create mass-adopted AI-powered consumer products. The company has also raised billions of dollars to build landmark infrastructure, an investment that OpenAI will eventually have to repay.
While adults surely have romantic relationships with AI chatbots, they are also very popular with minors. A new report from the Center for Democracy and Technology finds that 19% of high school students have had a romantic relationship with an AI chatbot or know a friend who has.
Altman says OpenAI will soon allow erotica for “verified adults.” It’s unclear whether the company will rely on its age prediction system, or some other approach, to determine the age of ChatGPT’s erotic features. It’s also unclear whether OpenAI will extend erotica to its AI voice, image and video generation tools.
Altman says OpenAI also makes ChatGPT friendlier and more erotic because of the company’s principle of “treating adult users like adults.” Over the past year, OpenAI has evolved a more lenient content moderation strategy for ChatGPT, allowing the chatbot to be more permissive and offer fewer opt-outs. In February, OpenAI committed to representing more political viewpoints in ChatGPT, and in March the company updated ChatGPT to allow AI-generated images of hate symbols.
These policies appear to be an attempt to make ChatGPT’s answer more popular with a wide variety of users. However, vulnerable ChatGPT users may benefit from protection measures that limit a chatbot’s possibilities for interaction. As OpenAI heads toward one billion weekly active users, the tension between growth and protecting vulnerable users is only set to grow.
