Chatbots Are Becoming More Sexually Explicit in a Bid to Attract Usership and Paying Customers

TIME - Tech 

The eighteen plus symbol (18+) appears on a smartphone screen, and the OpenAI logo displays as the background on a laptop screen in this photo illustration in Athens, Greece, on October 16, 2025. The eighteen plus symbol (18+) appears on a smartphone screen, and the OpenAI logo displays as the background on a laptop screen in this photo illustration in Athens, Greece, on October 16, 2025. In August, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on a podcast that he was "proud" that his company had not gotten "distracted" by putting features like a "sexbot avatar" into ChatGPT. But on Tuesday, he announced that adult users will be able to access explicit interactive experiences, marking a major shift in the company's practices. "In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our'treat adult users like adults' principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults," Altman said in a post on X.