Overview
- OpenAI says it is building an age‑prediction system that will estimate users’ ages from interactions and default uncertain cases to a restricted under‑18 experience, with adults possibly asked to verify identity to opt out.
- Parental controls targeted for late September would let parents link accounts, guide how the bot responds, disable memory and chat history, set blackout hours, and receive alerts if acute distress is detected, with possible police contact if parents cannot be reached.
- The company states the teen experience will block flirtatious exchanges and keep the model from discussing suicide or self‑harm with users determined to be under 18.
- Experts warn automated age estimation could misclassify neurodiverse or non‑native speakers and raise privacy and data‑security risks, including concerns about how identification data would be stored and used.
- The product promises come as Adam Raine’s father testified before a Senate subcommittee and advocates urge independent evaluation and regulation rather than relying on company self‑policing.