After OpenAI said it would allow erotic content through ChatGPT, Sam Altman struck a defying tone in defending the decision.
The OpenAI CEO said in a post on X that the AI company is “not the elected moral police of the world” in response to criticism from the likes of billionaire Mark Cuban to The National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
Altman clarified in the post that just like with R-rated films, the company is taking the necessary precautions to protect younger users while still allowing leeway for adults.
“As AI becomes more important in people’s lives, allowing a lot of freedom for people to use AI in the ways that they want is an important part of our mission,” he wrote.
He noted OpenAI will still not allow content that harms others and will respond appropriately to users having mental-health crises, and allow users to achieve their long-term goals, “without being paternalistic.” A new version of ChatGPT to be rolled out in December will also act more like a friend and very “human-like” if that’s what a user wants, Altman said this week.
The company’s pivot on erotic material stands in contrast to Altman’s comments in an August podcast, when he said he was proud of OpenAI’s ability to resist the temptations like adding a “sex bot avatar” to ChatGPT.
“There’s a lot of short-term stuff we could do that would, like, really juice growth or revenue or whatever and be very misaligned with that long-term goal. And I’m proud of the company and how little we get distracted by that,” Altman said to video journalist Cleo Abram.
“But sometimes we do get tempted,” Altman added.
A September study of 1,012 U.S. adults, conducted by Vantage Point Counseling Services, found that nearly one in three said they have had at least one intimate or romantic relationship with an AI chatbot. At times, these human-AI relationships have been shown to go astray, especially in people with mental health challenges. In August, the parents of 16-year-old who died by suicide sued Altman and OpenAI after their son died by suicide after having allegedly discussed methods of suicide with ChatGPT.
OpenAI is working to make ChatGPT more supportive in times of crises by making it easier for some users in crisis to connect with emergency services and trusted resources, OpenAI said in a statement to CNBC. OpenAI did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Criticism about the move to allow erotic content on the LLM poured in following the decision this week, including from Shark Tank star and businessman Mark Cuban. Cuban wrote in a post on X Wednesday that the move will hurt OpenAI’s business as parents prevent their children from using the chatbot.
“I don’t see how OpenAI can age gate successfully enough,” Cuban wrote. “I’m also not sure that it can’t psychologically damage young adults. We just don’t know yet how addictive LLMs can be.”