ChatGPT is getting parental controls starting today heres what they do and how to set them up

Date:
Mon, 29 Sep 2025 13:31:53 +0000

Description:
OpenAI is finally rolling out ChatGPT parental controls. Here's what parents need to know and how to activate them.

FULL STORY ======================================================================OpenAI is rolling out ChatGPT parental controls today With parental controls,
parents and teens can link their accounts New tools to adjust features and
set limits are available to parents

OpenAI is rolling out its long-awaited ChatGPT parental controls feature, starting today.

The age limit for ChatGPT is 13-years old, but there has never been a way for parents to control how their children used ChatGPT until now. Using the new controls, parents and teens can link their accounts to get stronger
safeguards including new tools to adjust features and set time limits for children.

In a post on X.com , OpenAI outlines exactly what the new features are. Firstly, youll be able to reduce sensitive content, which refers to graphic content and viral challenges, and is turned on by default when a teen
account is connected.

Parents will also be able to control ChatGPTs memory, deciding if it will be able to remember past chats for more personalized responses. Theyll also get the ability to set quiet hours, which will enable them to set times when
their teen cannot use ChatGPT.

Parental controls can turn off access to the ChatGPT Voice model and image creation. Finally, parents will also be able to decide if their teens chats can be used by OpenAI to improve its future models, or not. Controlling by consent

Parents will not be able to impose parental restrictions on their teens without some consent. To link two ChatGPT accounts together, a parent or teen must send an invitation in parental controls, and the other party needs to accept it. OpenAI will notify parents if their teens disconnect their account at any point.

In any case, parents will not have access to their teens chats. Some elements of the chat can be sent to parents, but that will only happen in rare cases where OpenAI and its trained reviewers detect that there are possible signs
of a serious safety risk.

While the new parental controls may not go far enough for some people, a statement from OpenAI reads: Weve worked closely with experts, advocacy groups, and policymakers to help inform our approach we expect to refine and expand on these controls over time. How to set up parental controls

Once your account has been upgraded, the new Parental Controls option will
sit under Accounts in the Settings menu. (Image credit: OpenAI)

A series of sliders will be available to manage your teens options: (Image credit: OpenAI) Breathe, just breathe

The new parental controls feature arrives just as OpenAI has implemented a
new safety routing system in ChatGPT for all users. Posting on X.com , Head
of ChatGPT Nick Turley wrote: As we previously mentioned, when conversations touch on sensitive and emotional topics the system may switch mid-chat to a reasoning model or GPT-5 designed to handle these contexts with extra care.

It seems, however, that the system is currently triggered very easily and overreacts to any potentially sensitive content, sparking a furious response from ChatGPT users who objected to being switched to what they consider as an inferior model, even if they are paying for a ChatGPT Plus account.

One user on Reddit described how he told ChatGPT that his plant had been knocked over in a storm and it responded to him by saying: "Just breathe.
It's going to be okay. You're safe now." We would expect the model switching system to improve over time. Strengthening safeguards

These new features are part of OpenAIs general push towards stronger safeguards, which it described in a September 2 blog post called Building
more helpful ChatGPT experiences for everyone after several highly publicized controversies from users in crisis while using the AI chatbot.

The new ChatGPT parental controls are rolling out to all ChatGPT users today on the web, and will be on mobile soon. OpenAI has created a new resources page to help parents understand how the new controls will work best for them and their children. You might also like ChatGPTs new Pulse feature will help you manage your day with handy visual updates ChatGPT can now beat CAPTCHA checks, so get ready for fake posts everywhere ChatGPTs 'compute-intensive' next act better be dazzling, because the competition is outshining its recent efforts



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/chatgpt/chatgpt-is-getting-p arental-controls-starting-today-heres-what-they-do-and-how-to-set-them-up


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