Overview

• CEO Sam Altman said erotica will be available only to users who verify they are adults, with access offered on an opt-in basis.
• A new ChatGPT version arriving in the coming weeks will let people choose a more human-like personality, including emoji-heavy or friend-like responses, only when requested.
• Broader age-gating and verification are slated for December, though OpenAI has not detailed how verification will work or meet regulatory requirements in places like the UK and EU.
• OpenAI says it has mitigated serious mental-health risks and set up an expert council on well-being, though those safety claims have not been independently validated in public reporting.
• The shift follows earlier guardrail tightening and ongoing scrutiny, including an FTC inquiry and a wrongful-death lawsuit, as competitors such as xAI’s Grok and Character.AI already allow sexual role play.