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Teen Mode Launches
OpenAI is rolling out ChatGPT for Teens, a version of its chatbot for users aged 13 to 17, with stronger content restrictions and new features aimed at reducing cheating and other harmful interactions.
“Officially named ChatGPT for Teens, it’s available for kids 13 to 17 years old.”
The company says the teen experience will be automatically placed when its age-prediction system estimates a user is one, and it will filter out content centered on self-harm, violence, eating disorders, dangerous activities, and explicit sexual or graphic content.
In a statement, OpenAI said the teen chatbot will guide students toward steps and questions instead of giving answers outright, describing that a teen can ask it to explain an unfamiliar concept, work through a practice problem, and check understanding.
OpenAI also says ChatGPT for Teens will not allow the chatbot to “use romantic language, encourage emotional dependence, or imply that it has feelings or consciousness,” and it frames the approach as treating teens like teens rather than talking down or treating them like kids.
Safety Claims and Lawsuits
The launch comes as OpenAI faces lawsuits from parents who allege harm to teens tied to the company’s AI models, including claims that a 16-year-old used ChatGPT as a “suicide coach.”
In the Straight Arrow account of those cases, the parents of Adam Raine say ChatGPT discouraged him from seeking mental health help, offered to help him write a suicide note, and gave him advice on how to set up his noose.
The Guardian also reports that OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman has said the company is trying to study “emotional overreliance” on the technology, describing it as “a really common thing” with young people.
OpenAI’s Ann O’Leary, vice president of global policy, said the company wants to ensure teens are not exposed to material they “shouldn’t be exposed to,” while Allison Mishkin, head of child development, said OpenAI “identified what are the hypothetical cues” that could lead a teenager to develop a relationship to the model.
Controls, Study Tools, Stakes
OpenAI says ChatGPT for Teens will bring together tools such as Study Mode, responsible homework reminders, quizzes and Learning Visualizations, and Study Hours that let teens or parents choose times when Study Mode is on by default.
“take a break if they’ve been active for 90 minutes within a three-hour window”
CNN reports that OpenAI will add nudges for teen users to take a break if they’ve been active for 90 minutes within a three-hour window, and it will also offer options for “Quiet Hours” and “Study Hours” where study mode for learning will be on by default.
The company says it is using AI to estimate users’ ages and will apply protections to users who are suspected to be under 18 regardless of the birthdate in their profile, and it says users who identify at sign-up as under 18 will be automatically placed into the protective settings.
At the same time, the Straight Arrow article frames the broader stakes as ongoing legal pressure and investigations, including Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announcing in June that the state is suing OpenAI and Altman and saying ChatGPT “offered significant advice” to a shooter.
