OpenAI to Permit Mature Content for Age-Verified Adults Starting December

OpenAI plans to allow mature content, including erotica, for age-verified adult users on its ChatGPT platform beginning in December. This development follows widespread user complaints regarding increasingly restrictive content filters that have impacted creative writing and narrative role-playing.

The company's CEO, Sam Altman, acknowledged that ChatGPT had been made "pretty restrictive" to address mental health concerns. "We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems," Altman stated in a post on X, indicating a shift in approach. This move aims to balance user safety with creative freedom, responding to a growing chorus of users who felt their creative expression was being stifled.

Recent discussions on OpenAI's community forums highlighted significant user frustration. One user, identified as "near" on social media, commented, "tbh to append to the top tweet, openai's filters for users Having A Bad Time are terrible too due to the combo of the models not understanding humans and the product prompters not understanding the models, but i do want to give them credit for like, trying, i guess, probably." Many creative writers and role-players reported that the filters were blocking or sanitizing content that was previously permissible, even in fictional contexts.

Users described instances where consensual romantic scenes, dramatic conflicts, or morally complex narratives were flagged as inappropriate. This led to a perception that the system lacked nuance and treated adult users like children, prompting calls for an "Adult Creative" or "Mature Fiction" mode. The tightening of filters coincided with OpenAI's introduction of parental controls in August, designed to allow guardians to set usage limits and filter age-inappropriate content following a lawsuit related to a teenager's death.

OpenAI's decision to implement age-gated mature content reflects a broader industry trend of balancing innovation with accountability. The company aims to mitigate mental health risks with new tools, allowing for a relaxation of restrictions in most cases while ensuring minors remain protected. This change is anticipated to restore creative freedom for adult users who felt constrained by the previous stringent filtering policies.