ChatGPT announces entry into the adult market: Starting in December, it will allow adults to generate erotic conversations.

OpenAI announced that starting in December, it will relax restrictions on adult content for ChatGPT, igniting market competition and regulatory debates (Background: Sam Altman discusses with a16z founder: OpenAI will make aggressive bets on infrastructure, and Sora is an important strategic tool) (Context: Top AI models are diverging: ChatGPT to C, Claude to B, Silicon Valley sparks discussions once again. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman today (14th) dropped a bombshell statement that ChatGPT will allow verified adult users to create erotic content starting in December. This adjustment of 'treating adults like adults' overturns the conservative thinking of tech companies regarding content moderation and brings the AI industry back into a range-bound between freedom and regulation. Strategic shift: from total blockage to tiered access According to OpenAI's official announcement, the core of the new policy is 'tiered opening'. Altman pointed out that in the past, ChatGPT set high-intensity filtering to avoid stimulating vulnerable groups, but most adult users found it 'not usable'. He emphasized in an internal memo: 'Treating adults like adults is key to our next phase of product experience.' OpenAI stated that it has accumulated sufficient mitigation techniques for high-risk conversations, along with the upcoming launch of emoji and personified tone options, hoping to make ChatGPT closer to human interaction. Dual protection: age verification and parental controls locked simultaneously To prevent adult content from leaking to minors, OpenAI will adopt two lines of defense. The first is age verification, where the system will integrate behavioral feature matching and identity proofing when necessary, completing real-person age matching before going live. The second is parental control. The teen version of ChatGPT launched in September is preset to block images and sexual topics, and parents can also link accounts to set usage times or trigger alerts, implementing 'segmentation' rather than 'banning'. Competitive pressure: the rise of AI companion services, OpenAI does not want to fall behind Industry competition is another major driving force, with Elon Musk's xAI focusing on AI companion services, emphasizing 'emotional connection' and adult conversation features; other startups are also investing in interactive adult content. If OpenAI insists on strict reviews, it risks falling behind in user engagement and revenue models, with some investors bluntly stating that 'boring AI is hard to monetize', Altman's decision reflects a response to commercial realities. Regulatory focus: unclear legislation, blurred ethical boundaries With the policy announcement, regulatory questions have followed, as the US Congress is currently discussing limiting minors' access to AI companions. California Governor Gavin Newsom just vetoed related bills last month, and the direction of regulations has yet to be determined. The definition of 'erotic' is vague, and mental health risks are difficult to quantify, which are all gray areas that need to be faced next. If the verification mechanism fails, OpenAI may not only face penalties but also suffer significant damage to corporate trust. Relaxing adult content may seem like a single product function, but it actually relates to the overall balance of market positioning, business interests, and social responsibilities for AI companies. In the coming months, the effectiveness of ChatGPT's age gate and user feedback will be crucial to the industry's direction. Silicon Valley demonstrates once again: the speed of technological advancement always runs ahead of ethical controversies. Related reports: ChatGPT adds MCP protocol hiding security vulnerabilities; Vitalik: relying solely on AI governance is a bad idea, humans must provide error correction mechanisms. What did my daughter say to ChatGPT before her suicide? ChatGPT is accused of assisting 'youth suicide' and has been sued; OpenAI has responded. This article titled 'ChatGPT Announces Entry into the Adult Market: Allowing Adult Erotic Dialogue Generation Starting in December' was first published in BlockTempo, the most influential blockchain news media.