OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is opening the door to adult content on ChatGPT while defending OpenAI’s evolving safety practices as the company faces legal and regulatory pressure.
Altman revealed Tuesday (October 14) that erotica and other mature material will be permitted on the platform for verified adult users beginning in December.
The update marks a sharp pivot from the company’s prior stance, which banned sexually explicit content to avoid potential mental health risks.
“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,” Altman wrote in a social media post.
We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.
Now that we have…
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 14, 2025
The decision arrives as OpenAI navigates a wave of scrutiny over its content moderation and youth safety protocols.
In September, the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several artificial intelligence firms, including OpenAI, over concerns about how their tools might affect children and teens.
The company is also facing a wrongful death lawsuit from a California couple who claim ChatGPT contributed to their 16-year-old son’s suicide, according to CNBC.
Altman acknowledged that earlier versions of ChatGPT were intentionally limited to protect users’ mental health but admitted that the restrictions made the tool frustrating for some.
“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.
To address rising concerns, OpenAI recently introduced new parental controls and safety features aimed at shielding younger users. On Tuesday, the company also announced the formation of an advisory group focused on the psychological and emotional impacts of artificial intelligence.
Alongside the adult content rollout, Altman shared that a revamped version of ChatGPT is on the way. The update will let users customize their 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,” he said. “But only if you want it.”
The erotica feature will go live in December, aligned with the platform’s expanded age-verification system.
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