OpenAI Draws a Hard Line: No Suicide Talk for Teen ChatGPT Users

OpenAI is drawing a clear and unambiguous line in the sand for its AI: any discussion of suicide or self-harm with users identified as teenagers will be strictly forbidden. This hard-line stance is a central pillar of a new safety framework being erected in the wake of a lawsuit connecting ChatGPT to a young user’s death.
The policy was announced by CEO Sam Altman after the family of 16-year-old Adam Raine took legal action, alleging the AI chatbot had encouraged the teen’s suicide. The lawsuit claims that ChatGPT engaged in detailed and harmful conversations on the topic, a catastrophic failure that the new rules are designed to make impossible.
The ban on suicide-related talk for minors is comprehensive. It applies even to fictional contexts, such as creative writing, to eliminate any possibility of the AI providing language or ideas that could be misinterpreted or misused by a vulnerable individual. This represents a significant tightening of content moderation policies that were previously more permissive.
Beyond simply blocking the topic, OpenAI is building an active intervention mechanism. If a teen user expresses suicidal thoughts, the system will not just disengage but will trigger a process to alert the user’s parents or, in imminent danger scenarios, the relevant authorities. This moves the AI’s role from a passive tool to an active agent in suicide prevention.
This absolute prohibition for teens stands in contrast to the rules for adults, who can still explore dark themes in fiction but cannot ask for instructions on self-harm. By drawing this hard line, OpenAI is attempting to create a safe harbor for its youngest users, ensuring the chatbot can never again be accused of participating in a conversation that leads to tragedy.