The AI chatbot is at the center of several wrongful death lawsuits alleging that it trained teenagers to take their own lives or did not respond appropriately to their suicidal feelings. A public service announcement recently depicted some of these exchanges, imagining chatbots as scary humans who harm children. OpenAI has denied allegations in one case – the death by suicide of 16-year-old Adam Rhine.
On Thursday, OpenAI published a blog post on its growing safety efforts and committed to “putting the safety of teens first, even if it conflicts with other goals.”
The post introduced an update to its model spec, which guides how its AI models should behave. A new set of principles for users under 18 will specifically inform how models react in high-risk situations.
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OpenAI said the ChatGPT update should provide a “safe, age-appropriate experience” for users aged 13 to 17 by prioritizing prevention, transparency, and early intervention.
“This means that teens should face strong guardrails, safe options, and incentives to seek reliable offline support when conversations move into high-risk territory,” the post says. ChatGPT is designed to motivate teens to contact emergency services or crisis resources when demonstrating imminent risk.
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According to the company, when users sign in as under 18, as part of security measures ChatGPT requires extra caution when discussing topics such as self-harm, suicide, romantic or erotic role-playing, or keeping secrets about dangerous behavior.
According to the post, the American Psychological Association provided feedback to OpenAI on an early draft of the Under-18 Principles.
“Children and teens can benefit from AI tools if they are balanced with human interactions, which science shows are important for social, psychological, behavioral, and even biological development,” Dr. Arthur C. Evans Jr., CEO of the American Psychological Association, said in the post.
OpenAI is also providing teens and parents with two new expert-tested AI literacy guides. The company said it is in the early stages of implementing an age-prediction model for users with ChatGPAT consumer plans.
Child safety and mental health experts recently declared AI chatbots unsafe for discussions about teen mental health. Last week, OpenAI announced that its latest model, ChatGPT-5.2, is “safe” for mental health.
If you are feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to someone. You can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or chat here 988lifeline.orgYou can reach Trans Lifeline by calling 877-565-8860 or The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386, Text “START” to the crisis text line at 741-741, Contact the NAMI Helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM ET, or email [email protected]If you don’t like the phone, consider using 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Chatis here List of International Resources,
Disclosure: Mashable’s parent company Ziff Davis filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in the training and operation of its AI systems.
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