ChatGPT Adult Mode to Reportedly Be Rolled Out in 2026, to Participate in Erotic Roleplays

ChatGPT's adult mode, which was first mentioned in October, now reportedly has a release timeline. Back then, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared the company's principle of “treating adult users as users,” hinting that users above the legal age would be able to access more explicit use cases from their artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. Now, as per a report, this adult mode is being planned to roll out in early 2026, provided OpenAI can build its age verification system by then.

OpenAI Confirms Adult Mode for ChatGPT

According to The Verge, OpenAI's CEO of Applications, Fidji Simo, told reporters recently that ChatGPT's adult mode could arrive in the first quarter of 2026. With this release, the platform will join the ranks of Grok and numerous smaller AI players that offer “not safe for work” (NSFW) content to users.

However, there is a catch. The AI giant will not introduce the capability unless it can definitively confirm that only an adult is accessing them. For that, OpenAI is adopting an AI-powered age verification system instead of the existing “opt-in” honour system.

OpenAI, earlier, has mentioned its age verification admin tools, which use custom large language models (LLMs) to deduce the age of a user based on their in-app activity and other signals. Simo reportedly revealed that this system is currently in the early testing stage. It is said to be used in select countries to identify teenagers that mi's-identify as adults.

If these tests are successful, then ChatGPT's adult mode will be rolled out in early 2026, with the US likely to be the first country to receive the feature. It is also expected that this capability will only be offered to the paid subscribers.

In October, Altman announced that the company is developing a new set of adult-exclusive features that will let them do more with the AI chatbot. These use cases were not explicitly mentioned, but could include a flirtatious version of ChatGPT that responds to more explicit-natured conversations. The CEO had also hinted at “erotica” for verified adults.

The announcement was made after a large number of users expressed frustrations at the removal of the GPT-4o model after the release of GPT-5. The former is said to be more conversational and felt “human-like.”