OpenAI is No Longer Working on ‘Adult Mode’ for ChatGPT

OpenAI has “indefinitely” paused its work on an ‘adult’ mode for ChatGPT, the Financial Times is reporting today. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in October that he wanted the chatbot to “treat adult users like adults” and allow erotica for verified adults. Still, these plans have proven to be controversial within the AI startup.

According to the Financial Times, “the sexual chatbot faced growing pushback over how it could encourage unhealthy attachments to AI systems and expose minors to problematic sexual content.” In recent months, we’ve also seen how AI chatbots can go off the rails when xAI’s Grok chatbot was used to “nudify” pictures of real people, including children.

Obviously, OpenAI doesn’t need that kind of controversy right now. The Financial Times also reported that this adult mode made some investors, probably for good reason. The AI startup told the FT that it was waiting to have long-term research on the effects of sexually explicit chats and emotional attachments before going forward with its sexual chatbot.

Overall, OpenAI seems to be going through an intense refocus. The company just killed its Sora video generation model and mobile apps, which also led Disney to cancel its $1 billion investment into the startup. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that OpenAI’s current priority is the development of a ‘superapp’ that combines ChatGPT, its Codex coding agent, and its Atlas web browser.