OpenAI Halts Its Erotic Chatbot Amid Internal Criticism

OpenAI has recently decided to pause the development of its erotic chatbot, a decision that comes after concerns raised by its employees, investors, and experts. According to the Financial Times, the project, known as "adult mode," has been indefinitely suspended due to the societal implications of sexually explicit content generated by artificial intelligence.

The OpenAI advisory board on well-being unanimously expressed its opposition to the project. One board member even warned against the risk of creating a "sexy suicidal coach." These concerns were compounded by technical issues related to the company's age verification system. Indeed, this system misidentified minors as adults in about 12% of cases, which is alarming given the 100 million minor users per week.

OpenAI, currently valued at $730 billion, has decided to suspend the project while awaiting thorough research on the effects of sexually explicit discussions and emotional attachments generated by AI. Internal discussions have already considered the possibility of completely abandoning the project, as investors deemed the risk-reward ratio unfavorable. Furthermore, employees have questioned the relevance of this project in relation to OpenAI's mission.

In the code of the ChatGPT application, the erotic chatbot project appears under the name "Lemon mode," with age verification planned for users aged 18 and older. In the meantime, OpenAI is focusing on developing productivity tools and a "super app" around ChatGPT.