OpenAI plans to expand the range of content available on its popular chatbot, ChatGPT, to include erotic material, as part of an effort to “treat adult users as adults,” said the company’s CEO, Sam Altman.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Altman stated that future versions of ChatGPT will be able to behave “in a more human-like way — but only if you want it to, not because we’re trying to maximize usage.”
This move, similar to Elon Musk’s recent introduction of two sexually explicit chatbots in his xAI platform, Grok, could help OpenAI attract more paying subscribers.
Experts, however, warn that such a change may increase pressure on lawmakers to establish stricter regulations for chatbot users.
The company’s announcement comes in the wake of a lawsuit filed earlier this year by the parents of an American teenager who took his own life. Matt and Maria Raine, the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, were the first to accuse OpenAI of wrongful death, criticizing the company’s parental control measures as insufficient.
The family included chat logs between Adam and ChatGPT, showing that he had expressed suicidal thoughts.
Altman said that in the past, ChatGPT had been “quite restrictive to ensure we were being careful about mental health issues.”
“We understand that this made the system less useful or enjoyable for many users who did not have mental health concerns,” Altman added, “but given the seriousness of the issue, we wanted to handle it properly.”
He emphasized that the company now has new tools to safely relax those restrictions in most cases.
“In December, as we fully implement age verification — and as part of our principle to ‘treat adult users as adults’ — we will allow more types of content, including erotica, for verified adults,” Altman stated.
Critics argue that OpenAI’s decision to permit erotic material highlights the urgent need for stronger federal and state-level regulations to govern artificial intelligence systems and their impact on society.
