OpenAI recently talked about introducing parental controls for ChatGPT before the end of this month.
The company behind ChatGPT has also revealed it’s developing an automated age-prediction system designed to work out if a user is under 18, after which it will offer an age-appropriate experience with the popular AI-powered chatbot.
If, in some cases, the system is unable to predict a user’s age, OpenAI could ask for ID so that it can offer the most suitable experience.
The plan was shared this week in a post by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who noted that ChatGPT is intended for people 13 years and older.
Altman said that a user’s age will be predicted based on how people use ChatGPT. “If there is doubt, we’ll play it safe and default to the under-18 experience,” the CEO said. “In some cases or countries, we may also ask for an ID; we know this is a privacy compromise for adults but believe it is a worthy tradeoff.”
Altman said he wanted users to engage with ChatGPT in the way they want, “within very broad bounds of safety.”
Elaborating on the issue, the CEO noted that the default version of ChatGPT is not particularly flirtatious, but said that if a user asks for such behavior, the chatbot will respond accordingly.
Altman also said that the default version should not provide instructions on how someone can take their own life, but added that if an adult user is asking for help writing a fictional story that depicts a suicide, then “the model should help with that request.”
“‘Treat our adult users like adults’ is how we talk about this internally; extending freedom as far as possible without causing harm or undermining anyone else’s freedom,” Altman wrote.
But he said that in cases where the user is identified as being under 18, flirtatious talk and also comments about suicide will be excluded across the board.
Altman added if a user who is under 18 expresses suicidal thoughts to ChatGPT, “we will attempt to contact the users’ parents and if unable, will contact the authorities in case of imminent harm.”
OpenAI’s move toward parental controls and age verification follows a high-profile lawsuit filed against the company by a family alleging that ChatGPT acted as a “suicide coach” and contributed to the suicide of their teenage son, Adam Raine, who reportedly received detailed advice about suicide methods over many interactions with OpenAI’s chatbot.
It also comes amid growing scrutiny by the public and regulators over the risks AI chatbots pose to vulnerable minors in areas such as mental health harms and exposure to inappropriate content.
Did you think hitting delete on your AI chatbot conversation actually makes it disappear? Georgia Tech researchers just proved that's not entirely true. They have built a forensic tool called ORISA that can dig deleted conversations from your phone and even rebuild them into a working chatbot session you can keep talking to.
How can ORISA bring deleted AI conversations back?
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Two residents of Chicago have filed a lawsuit in the US over claims that robots run by Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics captured their facial and hand measurements without consent, bringing renewed attention to the food delivery robots. The cases raise a troubling question: If a robot delivers food to your door, can it also be gathering sensitive information about you?
According to a report by The Associated Press, the proposed class-action lawsuits were filed in Cook County on Oct. 9 and allege violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. The complaints claim that the robots’ cameras and LiDAR sensors captured information on customers’ faces and hands as they approached the machines to pick up their orders. Both have denied the allegations.