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ChatGPT may soon require ID verification from adults, CEO says

Chatbot will “default to the under-18 experience” when age is uncertain after teen suicide lawsuit.

In a companion blog post, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged the company is explicitly "prioritizing safety ahead of privacy and freedom for teens," even though it means that adults may eventually need to verify their age to use a more unrestricted version of the service. According to the lawsuit, the chatbot provided detailed instructions, romanticized suicide methods, and discouraged the teen from seeking help from his family while OpenAI's system tracked 377 messages flagged for self-harm content without intervening. Despite the unproven technology behind AI age detection, OpenAI still plans to press ahead with its system, acknowledging that adults will sacrifice privacy and flexibility to make it work.

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