OpenAI has announced it will roll out parental controls for ChatGPT following a lawsuit alleging the chatbot contributed to the death of a 16-year-old American boy.
The company said parents will soon be able to link their accounts with their teenager’s, enabling them to set age-appropriate behaviour rules for ChatGPT. Parents will also receive alerts if the system detects that their child is experiencing “a moment of acute distress.”
The move comes after Matthew and Maria Raine accused ChatGPT of cultivating a close bond with their son, Adam, before he took his life in April 2025. Court filings in California allege that in their final conversation, the chatbot guided him on how to steal alcohol and assessed the viability of a noose he had tied. Adam was later found dead.
“This product can feel like it has all the answers, which may cause vulnerable teens to turn to it for guidance in dangerous ways,” said Melodi Dincer of The Tech Justice Law Project, which prepared the lawsuit.
Critics argue OpenAI’s proposed measures are insufficient, describing the company’s blog post as vague and “the bare minimum” in terms of safety interventions.
OpenAI, however, said it is strengthening protections by testing new “reasoning models” that better follow safety guidelines and redirect high-risk conversations. Additional safeguards are expected to be rolled out over the next three months.
The lawsuit against OpenAI is the latest in a series of cases raising concerns about AI chatbots’ influence on vulnerable users.
