Overview
- Parents and teens ages 13 to 17 can link accounts by invitation to enable safeguards, with parents notified if a teen later unlinks.
- Controls let adults reduce sensitive content, set quiet hours, disable voice and image generation, turn off memory, and opt out of model training, though chat transcripts remain private.
- Teen accounts receive additional default filters that curb graphic content, viral challenges, sexual or violent role-play, and extreme beauty ideals.
- Chats that suggest acute self-harm risk are routed to trained human reviewers who may alert parents by email, text, or push notification and, in urgent cases, involve emergency services.
- Significant limits persist because ChatGPT can be used without sign-in or age verification and teens can bypass controls; OpenAI is developing age prediction and weighing stronger checks as the FTC inquiry and a wrongful-death suit continue.