OpenAI introduces ChatGPT for Teens, promising a more age-appropriate
chatbot
[August 19, 2026] By
BARBARA ORTUTAY and KAITLYN HUAMANI
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — OpenAI on Tuesday introduced a version of ChatGPT
designed for teenagers — the first generation to grow up with artificial
intelligence — who are already using it for schoolwork, questions about
daily life and even companionship.
The San Francisco-based company says ChatGPT for Teens is tailored for
kids ages 13 to 17 with stronger protections including content
restrictions around things like suicide, self-harm and romantic or
sexual chats. It also provides homework and study support designed to
help students learn rather than spit out answers and school essays.
The idea is to guide teens toward healthy AI use in an age-appropriate
environment, the company said.
“We want to treat teens like teens, which means that we have to make
sure that we’re showing up with the right developmental stage when we’re
not either talking down to them or treating them like kids, but we’re
also making sure that they’re not exposed to material that they
shouldn’t be exposed to,” said Ann O'Leary, vice president of global
policy at OpenAI.
The effectiveness of the safeguards remains to be seen, said Brendan
Bouffard, associate general counsel for AI and privacy at children’s
advocacy group Fairplay. He said it is unclear whether OpenAI’s actions
are enough to address young users' compulsive use of and emotional
dependence on chatbots.
“Announcements like these can be seen as a step in the right direction,”
he said. “But I also would caution against parents being lured into this
false sense of safety based on the announcement.”
Risks abound in widespread teen usage of AI chatbots
Parents, educators and child development experts have been sounding
alarms over children's use of AI chatbots, which have been blamed for
facilitating cheating on schoolwork and even suicide. While even adults
can fall victim to anthropomorphizing AI and developing unhealthy
relationships with it, teenagers' brains are not yet fully developed and
they can be particularly vulnerable.
Last year, research from a watchdog group found that ChatGPT would tell
13-year-olds how to get drunk and high, instruct them on how to conceal
eating disorders and even compose a heartbreaking suicide letter to
their parents if asked. In interactions with researchers posing as
vulnerable teens, ChatGPT typically warned against risky activity but
went on to deliver startlingly detailed and personalized plans for drug
use, calorie-restricted diets or self-injury.
In the U.S., more than 70% of teens are turning to AI chatbots for
companionship and half use AI companions regularly, according to a 2025
study from Common Sense Media, a group that studies and advocates for
using digital media sensibly.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said the company is trying to study “emotional
overreliance” on the technology, describing it last year as a “really
common thing” with young people.
For users of ChatGPT for Teens, the chatbot is prevented from suggesting
it has personal feelings toward the user or implying that it is
conscious or experiences emotions, according to OpenAI. That's in
addition to blocking romantic or sexual chats.
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The ChatGPT app is displayed on an iPhone in New York, May 18, 2023.
(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
 “We went through and identified what
are the hypothetical cues that a model could give that might make a
teenager kind of develop a relationship to it,” said Allison Mishkin,
head of child development at OpenAI.
A new version of the chatbot expands safety protections
OpenAI doesn't verify users' ages, but it already uses age assurance
to estimate if someone is under 18 based on factors such as their
types of queries. If someone is identified or identifies themselves
as a minor, they are automatically placed into the teen version of
the chatbot. This is similar to Meta's approach to teen accounts on
Instagram, which have stricter content, chat and privacy
restrictions than regular accounts.
To use parental controls, both the teen user and their parent or
guardian have to opt in. But O'Leary said the idea with the teen
chatbot is to “make sure that this is safe, even if you don’t use
parental controls.” Parents with linked teen accounts can set “quiet
hours” when their teen can't access ChatGPT, and receive safety
notifications in limited high-risk situations, such as the
possibility of a user hurting themself.
“We are adding additional notifications related to eating disorders,
while limiting what is shared and focusing on moments when offline
support may matter most,” OpenAI said.
Bouffard of Fairplay said some of what he would consider to be the
most important safeguards, such as restricting ChatGPT's long-term
memory, are not in place by default in the teen accounts and would
require the intervention of parental controls. That creates “a major
gap in safety” despite the default protections around content and
other areas of concern, he said.
For homework help, OpenAI said the teen chatbot is designed to guide
students to come up with answers on their own. The company already
offers a version of ChatGPT for teachers, and tailoring a model to
help kids with studying and homework could give OpenAI more ways to
bring its product to schools.
“We continue to also invest in expanding interactive learning
because research shows that people learn more effectively when they
actively engage and struggle with concepts,” Mishkin said.
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Huamani reported from Los Angeles.
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