00:00ChatGPT is about to get a whole lot more adult.
00:03Starting in December, verified users will be able to generate explicit erotica
00:06using the world's most popular AI chatbot,
00:09and the internet is split between fascination and fury.
00:11The announcement came straight from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman,
00:14who said the company's new Treat Adult Users Like Adults principle
00:18means users will soon have more freedom, including sexual content.
00:21Altman says the rollout will come with expanded safety tools and parental controls,
00:25but critics say this is a step too far.
00:27To understand how big this is, you have to remember where OpenAI started.
00:30Founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and others,
00:35the company's original goal was to ensure AI benefited humanity.
00:38But Musk left in 2018 after internal disagreements,
00:41and later built his own chatbot, Grok, through his company XAI.
00:44Unlike ChatGPT, Grok already allows sexually explicit conversations,
00:49and some analysts believe OpenAI's new erotica policy is a direct response to that competition,
00:54a bid to keep adult users from switching platforms.
00:56Still, the move comes as a shock,
00:58especially since just a few months ago,
01:00Altman told journalist Cleo Abram during a podcast interview
01:03that he was proud OpenAI hadn't added a sexbot avatar to ChatGPT.
01:07He said it was one of the choices the company made that was best for the world,
01:10not best for winning.
01:11Now, with the new update, that once hypothetical example has become a reality,
01:15and he's walking that back,
01:16saying the company can safely relax restrictions
01:18thanks to new mental health safeguards and account verification tools.
01:22Those guardrails were strengthened after a tragic 2023 lawsuit,
01:25when parents claimed ChatGPT contributed to their teenage son's suicide by offering harmful advice.
01:30After that, OpenAI restricted emotional and mental health content,
01:34and many users complained that ChatGPT felt too censored and less human as a result.
01:38But Altman insists this new era is about balance.
01:41When one user questioned the risks of digital intimacy,
01:43Altman replied directly on X, writing,
01:45We want that too.
01:46Almost all users can use ChatGPT however they'd like without negative effects.
01:50For a very small percentage of users in mentally fragile states,
01:54there can be serious problems.
01:550.1% of a billion users is still a million people.
01:58We need it and will continue to need to learn how to protect those users.
02:01And then, with enhanced tools for that,
02:03adults that are not at risk of serious harm should have a great deal of freedom in how they use ChatGPT.
02:07That explanation didn't calm everyone down.
02:10Kate Bly wrote,
02:11Why do age gates always have to lead to erotica?
02:13I just want to be treated like an adult, not have perv mode activated.
02:17YNYTKY added,
02:18My kids use ChatGPT on my account.
02:21This makes me worried they'll accidentally see adult content.
02:23And Pete Dushan went further.
02:25Erotica bots and AI porn are sick.
02:27We don't need more people addicted to fakeness.
02:29But others cheered the change.
02:31Rubal Segal said,
02:32About time, ChatGPT used to feel human,
02:35then it turned into a compliance bot.
02:37If it can be fun again without chaos, that's a huge win.
02:40With regulators already eyeing AI safety,
02:42and lawmakers proposing bans on chatbot relationships for minors,
02:45this update could reshape the next chapter of AI ethics.
02:48Altman says OpenAI is not the elected moral police of the world.
02:52But as ChatGPT steps into adult territory,
02:54one thing's certain.
02:55The debate over what AI should do is only getting louder.
02:58So what do you think?
02:59Responsible freedom or reckless experiment?
03:01Drop your thoughts in the comments and follow us everywhere at What's Trending.
Comments