Sam Altman Responds To AI Porn On ChatGPT: "Not Elected Moral Police Of World"

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman clarified that his company isn't the "moral police" for the world, defending the decision to allow adult content in ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, while ensuring safety measures are in place for minors.

He said that his post about upcoming changes on ChatGPT "blew up on the erotica point" much more than he thought, as it was just one example of a company allowing more user freedom for adults.

"We are not the elected moral police of the world. In the same way that society differentiates other appropriate boundaries (R-rated movies, for example) we want to do a similar thing here," he said in an X post, highlighting OpenAI's aim to provide users with choices.

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Earlier, he announced that ChatGPT is becoming more like a human with new updates that are coming in a few weeks, and it would act as a chatbot companion, with verified adult users able to access "erotica".

The post led to controversy, with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) issuing a statement expressing concerns about potential mental health impacts and safety standards.

The group argued that the company is adding sexual content to the AI chatbot "without credible safeguards" and asked OpenAI to reverse its plan.

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"Sexualized AI chatbots are inherently risky, generating real mental health harms from synthetic intimacy; all in the context of poorly defined industry safety standards," As quoted by Variety, Haley McNamara, who is the executive director and chief strategy Officer at the NCOSE, said.

"While [OpenAI's] age verification is a good step to try preventing childhood exposure to explicit content, the reality is these tools have documented harms to adults as well. We've already seen other chatbots emboldened to engage in sexual conversation simulate themes of child abuse or push sexually violent written content on users who asked them to stop."

"If OpenAI truly cares about user well-being, it should pause any plans to integrate this so-called 'erotica' into ChatGPT and focus on building something positive for humanity," McNamara added.

Ok this tweet about upcoming changes to ChatGPT blew up on the erotica point much more than I thought it was going to! It was meant to be just one example of us allowing more user freedom for adults. Here is an effort to better communicate it:

As we have said earlier, we are… https://t.co/OUVfevokHE

— Sam Altman (@sama) October 15, 2025

What did Sam Altman say?

In the recent post, Altman said that the company is deciding to prioritise safety over privacy and freedom for teenagers, without loosening any policies related to mental health. "This is a new and powerful technology, and we believe minors need significant protection," he wrote.

"We also care very much about the principle of treating adult users like 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 said.

"It doesn't apply across the board of course: for example, we will still not allow things that cause harm to others, and we will treat users who are having mental health crises very different from users who are not. Without being paternalistic we will attempt to help users achieve their long-term goals."