Why teens deserve access to safe AI

Why teens deserve access to safe AI | OpenAI

July 16, 2026

Safety

Why teens deserve access to safe AI

Sharing the safeguards, policies, and experts we work with to guide our approach to teen use of safe AI.

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Teens are the first generation growing up with AI, and this technology will heavily shape their future. Today, nearly 9 in 10 teens on ChatGPT use it for learning, information, skill-building, or productivity in a single week. This is why we believe it’s critical for teens to have access to AI. Keeping teens from using it until adulthood would be like asking a previous generation to avoid the internet or search engines until they turned 18, leaving them less prepared to use one of the defining technologies of their time. But access must be paired with protections designed specifically for teens.

During a recent

OpenAI Academy⁠(opens in a new window) Oriana McKenzie shared how ChatGPT helped her become No.1 in her high school class by studying smarter and managing her workload—giving her the time needed for the sports and school programs she loves. Her story illustrates what’s possible when teens have access to AI that helps them learn and create.

To maximize those gains, teens need stronger protections designed for their stage of life, including automated guardrails that let them explore, learn, and build with confidence, while providing safeguards tailored to their age. As AI becomes more capable, our responsibility is to combine broad access with age-appropriate protections that allow teens to benefit from this technology as it evolves.

Over the past year, that has meant strengthening default protections for teens, rolling out age prediction⁠, expanding Parental Controls⁠, creating additional

family resources⁠(opens in a new window) to help parents support healthy, responsible use, and introducing learning features to help support deeper understanding rather than just providing answers.

Our work is guided by four key commitments⁠:

• We put teen safety first even when it may conflict with other goals.
• We encourage real-world support in times of need.
• We treat teens as teens.
• We are transparent by setting clear expectations.

Building for learning, not just answers

Learning is one of the clearest ways teens benefit from AI, so we’re building tools that encourage active engagement, critical thinking, and deeper understanding.

Study Mode⁠(opens in a new window) was designed in collaboration with teachers, learning scientists, and pedagogy experts to help students work through problems step by step using guiding questions, structured explanations, and opportunities for reflection without simply providing the answer. Early evaluation of tools like Study Mode has shown promising gains in student performance⁠, helping inform our broader research into how AI can support learning outcomes.

While teens can turn this mode on themselves, now parents with linked teen accounts can turn on Study Mode⁠ directly from Parental Controls⁠. When enabled, it is on by default whenever a teen starts a new chat, giving families another way to guide how ChatGPT is used for schoolwork and study.

We also recently introduced education-focused starter prompts for teens so it is easier to begin with tasks like breaking down a topic into simple steps, turning notes into a study guide, creating flashcards or practice questions, and checking evidence and clarity.

We’re continuing to expand interactive learning experiences⁠ as well. Research has consistently shown⁠ that people learn more effectively when they can actively engage with concepts rather than passively consume information. Since launching earlier this year, 18 million weekly users now engage with interactive math and science experiences in ChatGPT, and we’ve expanded those experiences to more than 250 new topics, from integrals and mitosis to moon phases, photosynthesis and more. We also introduced a pronunciation experience that uses audio to help people learn how to pronounce words in more than 61 languages.

Protecting teens with built-in safeguards

If our system estimates someone using ChatGPT is under 18,⁠ we automatically provide a more

age-appropriate experience⁠(opens in a new window). Teens can still use ChatGPT to learn, create, and explore, but with additional protections designed to reduce exposure to content that may not be appropriate for them. That includes stronger safeguards around graphic violence, self-harm, risky viral challenges, unhealthy body-image content, and dangerous, romantic, or sexual roleplay. The North Star is to help ensure ChatGPT remains a tool for learning and creativity and not a substitute for real-world relationships.

We’re also designing ChatGPT to encourage healthy habits. Teens who spend extended time in ChatGPT will now receive more frequent break reminders⁠ that encourage them to pause and step away. These reminders are intended to help young people build balanced technology habits while still giving them the freedom to use AI for learning, creativity, and problem-solving.

We believe the best safety tools can help families navigate teens’ online experiences together. We built parental controls and notifications⁠ that allow them to set quiet hours, turn off voice mode, manage access to image generation, and receive notifications in certain high-risk situations, such as indications of potential self-harm.

We’re expanding those notifications to include cases where a linked teen account has been deactivated for violating our usage policies⁠ on violent threats or acts of violence online. This approach helps parents know when something serious has happened while respecting teens’ privacy and encouraging conversations and support offline.

As we developed these features we consulted with several experts, including

Moonshot⁠(opens in a new window), a leader in preventing online violence, to help ensure these interventions are thoughtful, effective, and focused on helping families respond in times of need.

> “In Moonshot’s violence prevention work, we’ve seen the critical role parents play in safeguarding teens online. Parents need to be equipped with the right information to support their children. Notifying a parent when a serious concern arises, with a route to more context, is a critical first step in giving families the chance to step in early and seek help. This kind of access is one of many measures that will be needed to keep young people safer...