The move comes amid growing scrutiny over the safety of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, including the reported final conversation of 23-year-old Zane Shamblin, who died by suicide in July 2025 after communicating with ChatGPT for six hours.
"You ain't going out with regret," the chatbot told him. "You're going out with recognition."
OpenAI says its new teen experience builds on existing parental controls and other safety features. Bethany Miller, communications director for National Religious Broadcasters, says the chatbot is designed to keep conversations age appropriate.
"It is really trying to promote education … to ask questions about math and schooling and … more teenage questions that they would be dealing with day in and day out," she relays.
But Miller says parents — not AI companies — should remain the primary gatekeepers.
"I don't think that parents should ever trust any type of digital implications before the conversations they have in the home," she says.
This comes as major technology companies have introduced a range of safeguards for minors, including private-by-default teen accounts, parental controls, automated detection of self-harm and grooming, and systems for sharing signals of child exploitation material.
Still, critics question how effective those measures are. Experts say teens can bypass some restrictions, while parents may not always use available controls. Researchers have also raised concerns about emotional attachment to AI companions and chatbots providing harmful advice when prompted.
The technology also raises questions in education, with researchers warning that AI tools can make it easier for students to take shortcuts rather than learn and can sometimes provide inaccurate information.
Some critics see OpenAI's teen mode as an effort to address mounting scrutiny over child safety, lawsuits and political pressure rather than a proven solution.
Miller, however, sees the move as a positive first step.
"I think this is a good thing that they are starting to put some safeguards in place," she says.
Noting that progressive digital media and artificial intelligence are not going away, she finds the headline, "Built for learning, backed by protections" encouraging.
