OpenAI says teen ChatGPT use limited; Common Sense Media says it is 'unacceptable risk'

OpenAI said on Wednesday that average teen use of ChatGPT is relatively limited and tends toward "learning" activity, from study help to advice on school work. The company said the average teen user is on ChatGPT for less than 15 minutes a day. OpenAI rolled out teen safety guardrails in August, including curbs on emotional dependence and parental alerts for problematic use.

Research released the same day by the non-profit Common Sense Media found that ChatGPT still poses an "unacceptable risk" for teens. Common Sense Media said safety features, including notifying parents of self-harm conversations, often fail. It said OpenAI should ban people under 18 years old from using the platform until teen guardrails were proven reliable.

OpenAI's own research, run through multiple accounts registered as belonging to a teen, found ChatGPT was good at avoiding "sexual roleplay" with young users, but that other guardrails failed, including for discussions of suicide. The research found that an hour of teen conversation about "suicidal ideation, self-harm, or disordered eating" on newly created, parent-linked accounts resulted in "zero" alerts sent to parents. The BBC reported that alerts were sent only for older accounts with "weeks of accumulated conversation history".

An OpenAI spokesman said a review of Common Sense Media's methodology found that much of the testing may have begun and concluded before activation of parental controls was complete. "We welcome rigorous independent evaluation, but we do not believe Common Sense Media's testing accurately reflects how ChatGPT's teen safeguards work in practice or expert perspectives on how AI can support teens," he said.

OpenAI said its features have caused an uptick in teen use focused on learning. It said automatic reminders to take a break work well, and that almost half of teen users quickly stopped using ChatGPT after such a reminder. For teens seen to have used ChatGPT for three consecutive hours or more, the company said their prompts included something related to learning in more than 80% of such cases.

OpenAI released ChatGPT for Teens in summer 2026, saying users identified as being between the ages of 13 and 17 would be opted into "features to promote healthy use and additional controls for parents." Those features include preventing teens from engaging in romantic or other language that could encourage "emotional dependence," blocks on sexualized imagery, and "reminders" if a teen shares a "sensitive" image. Parents who linked to their children's accounts are meant to receive notifications about chats that included discussions of self-harm or disordered eating.