Last October, CEO OpenAI Sam Altman pledged to launch an “adult model” in December to generate “restrictive” content. The original release window is now over and, according to the latest news, OpenAI has again postponed the release of the mode.
An independent journalist, Alex Heath, told TechCrunch that a spokesperson for OpenAI said that the company was “deferring the introduction of the adult model” and hoped to “focus on what is now a higher priority for more users”, such as “improvement of personalization, enhancement of user experience and promotion of initiative”. Adult content is reported to be a potentially profitable market for AI, and many users have relied on AI generation for romantic contact or for the search for “digital partners” for NSFW chats. Concern was expressed, however, about the combination of AI and human desires, and experts warned that “AI adultization” could raise ethical issues.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a former OpenAI employee claimed that they had been fired because of concerns about the commitment to introduce adult content into the service, particularly with regard to the mental health of ChatGPT users and the accessibility of adolescents. The Grok AI of Elon Mask has been widely criticized for its “AI stripping” function, which has been used to “disdress” reality images without consent. In spite of disputes and delays, OpenAI continued to introduce age validation to limit access and did not shy away from the commitment to grant maximum autonomy to users. The speaker stated: “We still believe in the principle of the treatment of adults as adults, but it will take more time to properly realize this experience.”