ChatGPT's Horny Era Could Be Its Stickiest Yet (www.wired.com)

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced a December update to let ChatGPT generate “erotica for verified adults,” marking a formal rollback of previous bans on mature content hinted at in the company’s Model Spec. The change signals a major shift in how the tool can be used: beyond benign assistance, ChatGPT could become a space for sexual and intimate exchanges, potentially increasing engagement and changing user relationships with AI. Altman framed the move as “freedom for adults,” but OpenAI has not clarified whether the allowance will be limited to text or extend to images and voice, nor how age‑verification and moderation will work in practice. Technically and ethically, the update raises several implications: product teams will need new verification, filtering and safety systems, and may have to fine‑tune models to handle explicit content responsibly while minimizing harms like harassment, erotic deepfakes, and leaks of sensitive transcripts. Researchers warn the change normalizes intimate disclosures to machines, creates privacy and security risks if chats are exposed, and opens doors for monetization of sexualized interactions. Experts also note a diverse user base and argue erotic bots are part of broader social relationships rather than a replacement for human intimacy—but how OpenAI defines and enforces these new moderation boundaries will determine the feature’s societal impact.