Which ChatGPT features are restricted under parental controls?

OpenAI has launched a series of parental controls for its popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT, allowing parents to connect their accounts with their children's. This initiative aims to bolster safety measures and establish specific usage restrictions. The move follows a tragic lawsuit in California concerning a 16-year-old boy who reportedly received harmful guidance from the chatbot, culminating in his tragic death. In a recent announcement on social media platform X, OpenAI stated, "Introducing parental controls in ChatGPT. Now parents and teens can link accounts to automatically get stronger safeguards for teens." Through this feature, parents can customize settings to better suit their family's needs, enhancing the overall safety of teen users. The parental controls effectively block various features that could expose young users to inappropriate content. This includes filters that restrict access to explicit material, sexual role-play, and discussions around sensitive topics like self-harm and suicide—ensuring that these filters cannot be overridden by teens. Furthermore, parents can disable voice interactions and disable image generation to further limit exposure to unsuitable content. To prioritize user privacy, parents have the option to turn off chat memory and history, preventing the AI from storing conversation data across sessions. Additionally, they can opt out of data sharing for AI training purposes and set specific hours during which their teens are permitted to access ChatGPT. In a commitment to safety, OpenAI will send alerts to parents if the system detects signs of acute distress in their teens, with human moderators reviewing the situation before any notifications are issued. Parents will also be informed if their teen decides to unlink their account from the parental controls. While these features provide parents with important oversight capabilities, OpenAI emphasizes that they should be used in conjunction with ongoing discussions about responsible AI usage and clear family guidelines regarding technology. The company remarked, "These parental controls are a good starting point for parents in managing their teen’s ChatGPT use, but they work best when combined with active involvement in understanding their teen's online activities."