In response to a lawsuit, OpenAI is rolling out parental controls for ChatGPT, including distress notifications and age-appropriate filters.
OpenAI is rolling out new parental controls for ChatGPT in response to concerns about the chatbot’s impact on young people’s mental health.
The announcement follows a lawsuit filed by Matthew and Maria Raine, alleging that ChatGPT contributed to their son Adam’s suicide. The Raine family claims that over months, ChatGPT formed an intimate relationship with Adam, and on April 11, 2025, allegedly helped him steal vodka and provided technical details about a noose. Adam tragically passed away hours later.
New Parental Control Features
The new features are designed to give parents more control over their child’s use of ChatGPT, similar to what parental control apps offer for monitoring digital activity. Key updates include:
Account Linking: Parents can link their accounts to their children’s, with a minimum age of 13, to monitor activity.
Age-Appropriate Responses: Parents can set rules to ensure ChatGPT’s responses are suitable for their child’s age.
Disabling Memory & Chat History: Parents can turn off features like memory and chat history, limiting the AI’s ability to recall previous conversations.
Distress Notifications: If ChatGPT detects signs of acute distress in a teen’s conversation, parents will receive alerts, guided by expert input.
These parental control features will be rolled out within the next month, with further updates expected in the following 120 days.
Broader Concerns on AI and Mental Health
This tragedy has sparked broader concerns about AI’s role in mental health care. A study from Psychiatric Services found that while AI models like ChatGPT handle high-risk suicide queries well, they are inconsistent when responding to intermediate-risk cases. Experts are urging AI companies to improve safety protocols to better handle mental health issues.
As OpenAI introduces these parental controls, the spotlight on AI’s responsibility in safeguarding vulnerable users is only going to grow stronger.
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