What to know

  • OpenAI's CEO of Applications Fidji Simo announced that ChatGPT's Adult Mode will be ready for rollout in Q1 2026.​
  • OpenAI is currently looking to get its age prediction right to restrict minors while allowing adults access to mature content.​
  • Sam Altman previously teased erotica and freer interactions for verified adults, though it was delayed by lawsuits and concerned parents.​
  • Competitors like Grok already offer adult features, in an industry where age verification trends continue.

After launching GPT-5.2 last Thursday, OpenAI has revealed that it will offer an 'Adult mode' for age-verified ChatGPT users. At the GPT 5.2 briefing, OpenAI's CEO of Applications, Fidji Simo, said that the adult mode will be out in the first quarter of 2026 itself.

Expect the mode to lift restrictions on erotica and customized personalities for adults. Earlier, Sam Already had promised users a version of ChatGPT that produces erotica. But the policy had shifted, citing lessons from mental health concerns that prompted delays. OpenAI also found itself in troubled waters over a teen's suicide earlier in the year.

Since then, OpenAI has addressed the concerns over unfiltered experience with safer versions of ChatGPT for minors. Now, the company is working on tech that will be able to accurately identify teens and deny them adult content while ensuring that verified adults gain more conversational freedom, which aligns with OpenAI's "treat adults like adults" approach.​

Last year, OpenAI admitted that it fears people will may become emotionally reliant on ChatGPT. With the launch of Adult mode in 2026, it's unclear what happened to those fears. Time will tell how people will react to ChatGPT freely giving them adult content. In the name of competition and staying ahead of the curve, OpenAI appears a little too willing to push porn-adjacent content to its users.