OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has announced a major change to ChatGPT’s content policy, revealing that the AI chatbot will soon allow adult content, including erotica, for verified users. The update, aimed at “treating adult users like adults,” marks a significant shift from the company’s previous restrictions.
In a post shared on X on Tuesday, Altman outlined a two-phase rollout. The first update, expected in the coming weeks, will let users personalize ChatGPT’s personality — allowing it to respond in a more human-like way, use emojis, or even act like a virtual friend.
A broader policy update is planned for December, which will officially enable verified adults to create erotica once OpenAI’s new age-gating and verification systems are fully implemented.
Altman acknowledged that ChatGPT was initially designed to be highly restrictive out of caution for users’ mental health. “We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues,” he said, adding that this approach “made it less useful or enjoyable to many users who didn’t have those concerns.”
Earlier restrictions were introduced following growing worries about users forming unhealthy emotional bonds with AI chatbots — concerns heightened by a lawsuit involving a 16-year-old who died by suicide, allegedly after interacting with ChatGPT.
According to Altman, OpenAI has since developed new safety mechanisms — including parental controls and advanced age-verification tools — to help “safely relax restrictions in most cases.”
OpenAI’s move follows in the footsteps of Elon Musk’s xAI, whose Grok platform already features sexually explicit chatbots.
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