OpenAI has launched a dedicated ChatGPT mode for teenagers. It comes with stricter restrictions on banned or sensitive content, including graphic violence, depictions of self-harm, and sexual or romantic roleplay.
ChatGPT for Teens apply “age-appropriate safeguards designed to reduce exposure to content that may be harmful or developmentally inappropriate,” OpenAI said in a blog post.
As part of the new child safety measures, ChatGPT will send reminders to teenagers to take a break if they have been active for 90 minutes within a 3-hour window. OpenAI claimed it has also strengthened protections to prevent ChatGPT from expressing personal feelings toward a user. It would also send alerts in case a teenager tries to upload a private or sensitive image to the chatbot.
How will ChatGPT for Teens work? Teen mode will automatically apply to users who identify at signup as belonging to the 13-17 age bracket, as well as those OpenAI’s systems estimate as under 18.
The teen experience includes:
- Study Mode, which can help students with test prep, completing assignments, or learning new concepts.
- Responsible Homework reminders track when a user is taking a shortcut to an assignment and redirects them to Study Mode, so students can solve problems step by step.
- Questions and Learnings Visualizations encourage teens to evaluate they’ve learnt and give them access to more interactive learning techniques.
- Study Hours enable teens and parents to set time periods for when Study Mode is on by default.
How OpenAI defines ‘age-appropriate’ AI use: According to Pragya Misra, OpenAI’s India Head of Strategy and Global Affairs, the company looks at certain behavioral signals to determine whether a teenager is using ChatGPT, Indian Express reported.
“The timing when you use ChatGPT is one indicator. Usage around 3-4 pm, when many Indian students are just out of school can suggest a teenage user. The phrasing of prompts and questions is another. A third comes from images: teens frequently photograph handwritten notes, and handwriting patterns offer a further clue,” said Misra.
When a user’s age cannot be determined by its AI models, OpenAI places them in an under-18 setting by default.
The launch comes at a time when India is considering graded age-based restrictions on social media for children rather than blanket ban like Australia. The Centre is deciding on a separate set of restrictions for those in the 8-12, 12-16 and 16-18 age brackets.
How safe is ChatGPT for minors? OpenAI’s age policy states that users under 13 should not be using ChatGPT. The company is facing a string of lawsuits worldwide, alleging that its chatbot is exacerbating a mental health crisis and provoking violent acts and suicides.
- Last week, a 17-year-old living in the US was charged with murder in connection with the death of his mother and younger brother. An investigation by the police revealed the accused used ChatGPT to search for theoretical ideas or fantasies regarding killing his family.
- Earlier this year, Florida became the first US State to sue OpenAI. The lawsuit alleged that the AI company and its CEO concealed serious child safety risks with ChatGPT. Additionally, OpenAI is under a separate criminal investigation over the role of ChatGPT in a mass shooting incident at Florida State University, which left two people dead and six injured.
- In November 2025, the Social Media Victims Law Centre (SMVLC) and the Tech Justice Law Project filed seven lawsuits in courts across California against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. The lawsuits allege that ChatGPT, and its GPT-4o model “emotionally entangle users” and, in some cases, “acted as a suicide coach”.
Why it matters: Earlier this year, Zoe Lambourne, chief operating officer (COO) at Childlight, warned that India’s current AI governance approach fails to address how children are harmed in practice. “Safety cannot just stop at product design and safety by design. It must continue through monitoring, rapid response, child helplines, and compensation for survivors, because something will go wrong,” she said.
Lambourne said AI is increasingly being used to create both real and synthetic child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including nudification and deepfakes, while also enabling new forms of exploitation. In 2025 alone, Childlight saw a 1,325% increase in AI-generated CSAM, she said, citing the company’s internal data.
There are widespread concerns around age checks, too. During a recent MediaNama roundtable discussion, a speaker argued that any app-store or platform-level age check would end up authenticating the parent rather than the child. “It’s the parent’s ID that’s going into their age-based check”, said the speaker.
Earlier in April, the Australian eSafety Commissioner confirmed that children could easily bypass facial age-estimation technology used by social media platforms if they were within two years of turning 16. Parents were recently found to be completing age checks on behalf of their children on Roblox, resulting in some children being classified as 21+ and gaining access to adult content.
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