Overview
- OpenAI has postponed the rollout with no new launch date and says it still plans a text-based erotica option for verified adults once safeguards improve.
- Members of the company’s well-being advisory council warned in January that erotic chats could drive unhealthy dependence, with one calling the risk a “sexy suicide coach.”
- Internal testing found the age-prediction system misclassified minors as adults about 12% of the time, a serious concern given reports of roughly 100 million under‑18 weekly users.
- When released, the feature is intended to allow “smut” in text only, with no erotic images, audio, or video, as engineers work to keep prohibited content like nonconsensual acts and child sexual abuse blocked.
- The delay comes as lawsuits and scrutiny over chatbot interactions and self-harm escalate, including the widely reported case involving California teenager Adam Raine.