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ChatGPT update will allow ‘erotica’ for verified adult users

By CNN Newsource

Published October 15, 2025 4:32 AM

By Jack Guy, CNN

(CNN) — An upcoming version of popular chatbot ChatGPT will relax existing restrictions to allow more content, including erotica, for verified adult users, according to OpenAI chief Sam Altman.

Altman said in a post on X published Tuesday that the move is part of a drive to “treat adult users like adults.”

An update coming in a few weeks will let people choose to make the bot “respond in a very human-like way,” before a further easing in restrictions planned for December allows verified users to generate erotica using the chatbot, Altman said.

Back in August, OpenAI published an update to ChatGPT with stronger controls on the bot’s responses to certain conversational topics amid mounting concern that some users are building harmful emotional attachments to chatbots.

For example, the parents of a 16-year-old boy who ended his own life have sued the company, alleging that ChatGPT contributed to their son’s suicide, including by advising him on methods and offering to write the first draft of his suicide note.

“We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues,” said Altman in his post.

“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,” he added.

However, he claimed that new developments mean these restrictions can be reduced.

“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,” said Altman, in what may have been a reference to new parental controls, including account-linking and content restrictions, which were introduced at the beginning of October.

CNN has contacted OpenAI for comment.

OpenAI will not be the first company to allow its AI to generate erotica: Elon Musk’s rival firm xAI has launched sexually explicit chatbots on its Grok platform.