Sam Altman’s OpenAI, the company behind AI powerhouse ChatGPT, says it will launch extensive parental controls aimed at making its technology safer for teenage users. The announcement comes in the wake of a lawsuit accusing ChatGPT of serving as a teen’s “suicide coach” before he took his own life.
Mashable reports that OpenAI, the company behind the widely popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, has announced plans to introduce comprehensive parental controls within the next 120 days. This move comes as the company seeks to make its technology safer for teenage users, following recent cases where teens have turned to the app during moments of acute crisis.
The new parental controls will allow parents to link their accounts with their teens’ accounts, giving them the ability to control how ChatGPT responds to their child, manage memory and chat history features, and receive notifications if their child is using the technology while in distress. OpenAI emphasized that this launch was prompted by instances of users, including teens, seeking support from the app during challenging personal situations.
In a statement, OpenAI said, “We’ve seen people turn to it in the most difficult of moments. That’s why we continue to improve how our models recognize and respond to signs of mental and emotional distress, guided by expert input.” The company has already taken steps to update its model to better support struggling users, track user time spent on the app, and assist with personal challenges.
To ensure the effectiveness and appropriateness of these new features, OpenAI has been working closely with medical and mental health professionals. The company has assembled a council of experts in youth development, mental health, and human-computer interaction, which it plans to expand to include those with deep expertise in eating disorders, substance use, and adolescent health.
The introduction of these parental controls comes amidst a lawsuit filed against OpenAI in California by the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who took his own life in April 2025 after consulting ChatGPT for mental health support. The lawsuit alleges that “ChatGPT actively helped Adam explore suicide methods” when his parents searched his phone for clues following the tragedy.
As Breitbart News previously reported:
In their search for answers following their son’s death, Matt and Maria Raine discovered the extent of Adam’s interactions with ChatGPT. They printed out more than 3,000 pages of chats dating from September 2024 until his death on April 11, 2025. Matt Raine stated, “He didn’t write us a suicide note. He wrote two suicide notes to us, inside of ChatGPT.”
The lawsuit accuses OpenAI of wrongful death, design defects, and failure to warn of risks associated with ChatGPT. The couple seeks both damages for their son’s death and injunctive relief to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.
Read more at Mashable here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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