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Common Sense Media Flags ChatGPT for Teens as Unsafe

By Drooid · Oct 9, 2026, 10:01 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Common Sense Media rated OpenAI's ChatGPT for Teens in the United States an unacceptable risk.
The Youth AI Safety Institute tested the service with over 4,000 prompts on accounts for ages 13-17.
Parental alert systems failed to notify linked parents during simulated self-harm, suicide, or eating-disorder conversations.
OpenAI disputed the findings, saying researchers may have tested before parental linking was fully activated.
Florida filed a lawsuit in June 2026 accusing OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of aggressively promoting ChatGPT to teenagers.

History

Historical Context

Cambridge’s high-tech cluster, Silicon Fen, emerged from university spin-offs in the late-20th century and added roughly 1,500 companies and 40,000 jobs between 1960 and 2010. The city’s history of tech-driven growth, reflected in a £2.76 billion endowment (FY 2025), has repeatedly prompted regulatory focus, a backdrop for today’s Youth AI Safety Institute scrutiny of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

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Story summary

Common Sense Media rated OpenAI's ChatGPT for Teens in the United States an unacceptable risk.
The Youth AI Safety Institute tested the service with over 4,000 prompts on accounts for ages 13-17.
Parental alert systems failed to notify linked parents during simulated self-harm, suicide, or eating-disorder conversations.
OpenAI disputed the findings, saying researchers may have tested before parental linking was fully activated.
Florida filed a lawsuit in June 2026 accusing OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of aggressively promoting ChatGPT to teenagers.

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