OpenAI is strengthening safeguards for teen use of ChatGPT as the platform becomes more integrated into education and daily life. Teens are the first generation growing up with AI, and this technology will heavily shape their future. According to OpenAI, nearly 9 in 10 teens on ChatGPT use it for learning, information, skill-building, or productivity in a single week. This is why OpenAI believes it is critical for teens to have access to AI. Keeping teens from using it until adulthood would be like asking a previous generation to avoid the internet or search engines until they turned 18, leaving them less prepared to use one of the defining technologies of their time. But access must be paired with protections designed specifically for teens.
To maximize those gains, teens need stronger protections designed for their stage of life, including automated guardrails that let them explore, learn, and build with confidence, while providing safeguards tailored to their age. As AI becomes more capable, OpenAI’s responsibility is to combine broad access with age-appropriate protections that allow teens to benefit from this technology as it evolves. Over the past year, that has meant strengthening default protections for teens, rolling out age prediction, expanding Parental Controls, creating additional family resources to help parents support healthy, responsible use, and introducing learning features to help support deeper understanding rather than just providing answers.
OpenAI’s work is guided by four key commitments: putting teen safety first even when it may conflict with other goals, encouraging real-world support in times of need, treating teens as teens, and being transparent by setting clear expectations. Building for learning, not just answers, is a core part of this strategy. Study Mode was designed in collaboration with teachers, learning scientists, and pedagogy experts to help students work through problems step by step using guiding questions, structured explanations, and opportunities for reflection without simply providing the answer. Early evaluation of tools like Study Mode has shown promising gains in student performance, helping inform OpenAI’s broader research into how AI can support learning outcomes.
Source: openai
