Overview

• CEO Sam Altman said ChatGPT had been made “pretty restrictive” for mental health reasons and that newer safeguards now allow limits to be eased in most cases.
• A new ChatGPT version is slated for the coming weeks that lets users choose more human-like personalities, including friend-like tone or heavy emoji use when requested.
• OpenAI plans fuller age-gating in December that adds formal age verification and creates different experiences for adult and minor accounts.
• Verified adults will be allowed to engage with erotica under the updated policy once age verification is in place, reversing a blanket ban on sexual content.
• OpenAI has launched tools to detect user distress and formed a well-being council, while experts warn of misuse risks such as non-consensual imagery and note gaps in suicide-prevention expertise.