ChatGPT ‘adult model’ plan: OpenAI's Sam Altman reacts to criticism, says ‘not elected moral police’

Sam Altman on Thursday reacted to backlash over ChatGPT’s proposed “adult model,” which aims to ease restrictions for teenage users while easing certain restrictions for adults. In a post on X, the OpenAI CEO said the company is working on age-appropriate AI access.

“We also care very much about the principle of treating adult users like adults," Sam Altman wrote. "As AI becomes more important in people's lives, allowing a lot of freedom for people to use AI in the ways that they want is an important part of our mission.”

He added that minors need significant protection, and OpenAI is committed to building systems that reflect this.

“It doesn't apply across the board of course: for example, we will still not allow things that cause harm to others, and we will treat users who are having mental health crises very different from users who are not. Without being paternalistic we will attempt to help users achieve their long-term goals,” he said.

“But we are not the elected moral police of the world. In the same way that society differentiates other appropriate boundaries (R-rated movies, for example) we want to do a similar thing here,” he wrote.

‘Treat adult users like adults’ principle

OpenAI will begin allowing mature content for ChatGPT users who verify their age starting in December, according to Sam Altman. This change comes after the platform became more restrictive for users experiencing mental distress.

“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,” Altman stated in a post on X on Tuesday.

He explained that OpenAI had made ChatGPT “pretty restrictive” to ensure caution around mental health concerns, though this approach made the chatbot “less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems.”

OpenAI has made progress in addressing mental health concerns and introduced new tools, according to Altman, who added that the company plans to safely ease restrictions in most situations.

Altman said that OpenAI will soon launch an updated version of ChatGPT that gives users more control over the chatbot’s tone and personality.

"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 (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing)," Altman explained.

Meanwhile, Meta introduced a new system designed to restrict the content visible to users under 18 on Instagram and its generative AI features, using filters modelled after the PG-13 movie rating guidelines.