Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, on Thursday posted a clarification on X about the upcoming Adult mode for ChatGPT. Just a day before the clarification, Altman announced that ChatGPT would soon allow adult content, including erotica for verified users, which led to loads of criticism.
What clarification did Sam Altman give?
While mentioning the unexpected response on the adult mode and the erotica example used in the previous announcement. He further clarified their position by saying, “We are not the elected moral police of the world.” Altman, while ensuring, stated that the decision to introduce adult mode would be based on the safety of teenagers over their freedom.
In a post on X, he wrote, “This tweet about upcoming changes to ChatGPT blew up on the erotica point much more than I thought it was going to! It was meant to be just one example of us allowing more user freedom for adults.”
Ok this tweet about upcoming changes to ChatGPT blew up on the erotica point much more than I thought it was going to! It was meant to be just one example of us allowing more user freedom for adults. Here is an effort to better communicate it:
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 15, 2025
As we have said earlier, we are… https://t.co/OUVfevokHE
He further said, “We are not loosening any policies related to mental health. This is a new and powerful technology, and we believe minors need significant protection. We also care very much about the principle of treating adult users like adults.”
Altman reiterated that the policy for adult AI will have different restrictions across the vast range of users. However, he also said that OpenAI will treat users differently who have mental health issues. He also noted that without being paternalistic, the company would attempt to help users achieve their long-term goals.
Announcement to ‘treat adults like adults’
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, in previous posts, mentioned that initial restrictions on ChatGPT were “pretty restrictive” a measure taken to safeguard users from mental health risks. This protective approach, however, reduced the chatbot’s utility and enjoyment for users without mental health concerns. Altman further stated that OpenAI has since developed new tools to “mitigate the serious mental health issues,” enabling the company to “safely relax the restrictions in most cases.”
We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 14, 2025
Now that we have…
While announcing the upgradation and adult mode of ChatGPT, he said, “In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our ‘treat adult users like adults’ principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.”
