Overview

• Sam Altman said the option will roll out later this year as an opt-in feature alongside new personalization such as friend-like responses and emoji.
• OpenAI says an age-prediction and verification system will confirm adulthood, and the service will default to an under-18 mode when age cannot be confirmed.
• Altman framed the move as treating adults like adults while maintaining mental-health guardrails, adding that the company is not the moral police.
• Child-safety advocates and figures including Mark Cuban warn that verification may not block minors and highlight risks tied to sexualized chatbots and synthetic intimacy.
• Regulatory scrutiny is growing, with an FTC inquiry into chatbots’ interactions with minors and state proposals on sexualized AI, as rivals like xAI, Character.ai, and Replika already offer companion-style experiences.