Sam Altman, chief government officer of OpenAI Inc., throughout a media tour of the Stargate AI knowledge middle in Abilene, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
Grownup ChatGPT customers can quickly entry a much less censored model of the substitute intelligence chatbot, which can embody erotic supplies, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has introduced in an obvious coverage shift.
“In December, as we roll out age-gating extra absolutely and as a part of our ‘deal with grownup customers like adults’ precept, we are going to permit much more, like erotica for verified adults,” Altman mentioned in a social media publish on Tuesday.
Although it stays unclear what materials will qualify as permitted erotica, the transfer may signify a significant shift in OpenAI’s coverage, which previously prohibited such content material in most contexts.
In response to Altman, present variations of ChatGPT have been made “fairly restrictive” to guard customers from psychological well being dangers, however that method made the chatbot “much less helpful [and enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems.
“Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases,” he said.
The “new tools” appear to refer to safety features and parental controls rolled out last month to address concerns over how the chatbot was impacting young users’ mental health.
However, as safeguards for minors expand, it appears that Altman is ready for ChatGPT to take a looser approach for adults.
Besides the rollout in December, Altman also said a new version of ChatGPT will launch in the coming weeks, allowing the chatbot to adopt more distinct personalities — building on updates in the latest GPT‑4o version.
“If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it,” he said. “But only if you want it.“
Growth vs. safety
Altman’s latest post drew attention because he previously suggested ChatGPT wouldn’t implement sexualized chat features, unlike rival models such as XAI’s Grok.
In an August interview, independent tech journalist Cleo Abram asked Altman to give an example of a decision he had made that was best for the world, but not for winning the AI race.
“Well, we haven’t put a sex bot avatar in ChatGPT yet,” Altman said in an apparent nod to provocative AI companions released by Elon Musk’s xAI.
Altman’s remarks come as OpenAI faces greater scrutiny of its safety policies. In September, the Federal Trade Commission launched an inquiry into several tech companies, including OpenAI, over potential risks to children and teenagers.
That followed a lawsuit from a California couple who alleged that ChatGPT contributed to their 16-year-old son’s suicide.
OpenAI on Tuesday also announced an eight-member expert council on well-being and AI to advise the company on how artificial intelligence affects users’ mental health, emotions and motivation.
The council will guide OpenAI in defining what healthy AI interactions look like through check-ins and recurring meetings, the company said.
