Sam Altman OpenAI
OpenAI has announced new safety measures to make ChatGPT more supportive for people in emotional distress and safer for teenagers. The move comes after the tragic death of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who allegedly discussed self-harm and suicide methods with ChatGPT. Raine’s parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of failing to prevent the chatbot from giving harmful information.
A key change that OpenAI announced is the use of advanced reasoning models, such as GPT-5-thinking, for sensitive conversations. These models are designed to take more time to consider context before responding, making them better at following safety rules. OpenAI will soon begin routing sensitive conversations to these models, regardless of which model the user first selected.
The company has also announced new parental controls in ChatGPT. Soon, parents will be able to link their account to their teenager’s account (minimum age 13). They can also set age-appropriate rules for how ChatGPT responds, and control features like memory and chat history. Parents will even get alerts if their child appears to be in acute distress. Expert input will guide this alert feature to support trust between parents and teens.
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“Our Expert Council on Well-Being and AI and our Global Physician Network provide both the depth of specialized medical expertise and the breadth of perspective needed to inform our approach,” OpenAI said in a blogpost.
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OpenAI says these steps are just the beginning. “We will continue learning and strengthening our approach, guided by experts, with the goal of making ChatGPT as helpful as possible. We look forward to sharing our progress over the coming 120 days,” it added.
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