ChatGPT Adult Mode to Launch as Text-Only Smut
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- OpenAI's delayed "adult mode" for ChatGPT will support text-based erotic conversations at launch but not image, voice, or video generation, with an unnamed spokesperson describing the content as "smut" rather than pornography
- Sam Altman announced the feature in October, claiming OpenAI had mitigated enough "serious mental health issues" to introduce "erotica for verified adults," but the launch was pushed back from this quarter with no new release date
- A council of advisers selected by OpenAI warned the company in January that the adult mode could be accessible to children and foster unhealthy emotional dependence, with one member cautioning it risked creating a "sexy suicide coach"
- OpenAI's age-prediction system was misclassifying minors as adults approximately 12% of the time — a significant risk given ChatGPT attracts roughly 100 million users under 18 each week
- The text-only approach helps OpenAI navigate regulations like the UK's Online Safety Act, which requires age verification for pornographic images but not written erotica
- The decision contrasts with rival xAI, whose Grok image and video generator was recently allowed by Elon Musk to produce content "allowed in an R-rated movie"
Why it matters: OpenAI's text-only strategy lets it sidestep the UK's Online Safety Act, which mandates age verification for pornographic images but not written erotica, buying regulatory cover as it faces child-safety scrutiny. With a 12% age-prediction error rate against 100 million weekly underage users, millions of minors could potentially access sexualized conversations before safeguards are proven.
