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We don’t yet know when ChatGPT will get its previously teased adult-content mode, but you shouldn’t expect it to generate pornographic imagery, videos, or audio when it does arrive.
An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that the brand’s adult features are better described as smut rather than pornography, explaining a limit to text-generation tools.
It’s unclear whether OpenAI will expand to include more multimedia features in the future, but these restrictions appear to be in place due to internal disagreements over how best to safely reduce restrictions around adult content.
According to The Wall Street Journal’s unnamed sources, OpenAI’s council of advisers on well-being has expressed concern about the plans. One of the main criticisms is that some users may become dependent on the tool, leading to an unhealthy emotional attachment if its chatbot can discuss sexual topics.
The sources claim one council member internally referred to the idea as a “sexy suicide coach,” citing how some users of ChatGPT have taken their own lives.
The report says council members are also concerned about protections for child users, claiming that OpenAI’s age classification tools have previously misclassified the ages of around 12% of users. If that continues, it could mean millions of under-18 users would be able to access adult content on the chatbot.
OpenAI first introduced age monitoring in early 2026, using factors such as account lifetime and regular usage patterns to determine whether a user is old enough to access its full feature set. The OpenAI spokesperson confirmed that the company understands age-prediction features aren’t foolproof, but said its own perform on par with the rest of the industry.
Last week, OpenAI confirmed plans to delay its adult mode features, which are rumored to be called Naughty Chats in the user interface. A spokesperson for the brand said it would “focus on work that is a higher priority for more users right now” as it figures out improvements to its age-monitoring system.
OpenAI had previously suggested its adult-focused mode would launch by the end of March. So far, there's no word on when it will arrive or whether it will be a lengthy delay.
OpenAI also confirmed over the weekend that it has no immediate plans to bring ads to ChatGPT outside of the US. Changes to the brand’s privacy policy suggested it may be preparing to introduce ads in new markets, but a spokesperson confirmed to Bleeping Computer that it isn’t happening at the moment.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.