OpenAI dials back ChatGPT censorship as it adds age-gated erotica

OpenAI will soon ease restrictions on adult content, allowing full-fledged erotica and sensitive mental health discussion inside ChatGPT. The decision aims to give adult users the agency to customize the chatbot’s personality and expand how it can be used.

CEO Sam Altman announced the move on Wednesday, posting on the platform X. “In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our ‘treat adult users like adults’ principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults,” he stated.

The change reverses an earlier policy. OpenAI made ChatGPT more restrictive this year to address mental health concerns. Some users were building harmful emotional attachments to the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.

The company recently faced a wrongful death lawsuit from the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, claiming ChatGPT contributed to their son’s suicide in April. According to the lawsuit, the chatbot advised him on methods and offered to draft his suicide note.

Altman addressed the original restrictions in his post. “We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues,” he wrote. “We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems.”

The company says it has developed new tools to protect vulnerable users. Access to mature content will require stricter age verification. OpenAI is also adding parental controls and teen-specific safeguards.

Critics doubt the plan will work. Entrepreneur Mark Cuban responded on X. “This is going to backfire. Hard,” he wrote. “No parent is going to trust that their kids can’t get through your age gating.”

Altman defended the approach in a follow-up post. “We are not the elected moral police of the world,” he said. The company likened the policy to R-rated movies, which set boundaries for different age groups.

The change almost mirrors Elon Musk’s decisions regarding the development of xAI. That company has already launched sexually explicit chatbots on its Grok platform.

Aside from erotica, ChatGPT will soon let users customize the bot’s personality. They can make it sound like a friend, use more emojis, or respond more naturally. These features will arrive in the coming weeks.

The timing may reflect business pressures. OpenAI’s revenue is growing, but the company has never made a profit. Allowing mature content could attract more paying subscribers.

In the UK, written erotica doesn’t require age verification under the Online Safety Act. However, AI-generated pornographic images would need users to prove they’re over 18.