Is ChatGPT safe for kids? Age rules, teen mode and parental controls

The short answer

It depends on the child's age and how the account is set up. As of October 22, 2026, OpenAI's terms say users must be at least 13, and users under 18 need a parent's or legal guardian's permission. OpenAI says ChatGPT estimates whether a user may be under 18 and, if so, adds content limits and other teen protections.

OpenAI's help center also says ChatGPT may produce output that is not appropriate for all ages, and advises caution even for children who meet the age requirement. In announcing parental controls, OpenAI said its guardrails can be bypassed by someone intentionally trying to get around them.

Parents who link accounts can change a teen's settings and receive limited safety notifications, but OpenAI says they cannot read their teen's conversations. Ten state attorneys general have sued OpenAI over ChatGPT's safety, including for minors; those are allegations, not findings.

How old do you have to be to use ChatGPT?

As of October 22, 2026, OpenAI's Terms of Use say you must be at least 13, or the minimum age required in your country, to use its services, and that anyone under 18 must have a parent's or legal guardian's permission. OpenAI's Privacy Policy, updated September 10, 2026, says its services are not directed to children under 13.

OpenAI's help article on whether ChatGPT is safe for all ages says it is not meant for children under 13 and that users 13 to 18 must get parental consent. If OpenAI learns it collected personal data from a child under 13, its Privacy Policy says it will investigate and, if appropriate, delete the data; it lists privacy@openai.com as the contact.

How ChatGPT checks age and what teens get

OpenAI began rolling out age prediction on ChatGPT consumer plans on January 20, 2026. It says the model weighs account and behavior signals, such as account age, typical times of use, usage patterns and the age the user gave, and that when it is not confident, it defaults to a safer experience. Adults placed in the teen experience by mistake can verify their age through Persona, an identity-verification service. Our guide to ChatGPT age verification covers that process in detail.

OpenAI says the teen experience reduces or handles with extra care:

• graphic violence or gore;
• viral challenges that could encourage risky behavior;
• sexual, romantic or violent role play;
• depictions of self-harm;
• content promoting extreme beauty standards, unhealthy dieting or body shaming.

OpenAI's help center says it will not show ads in an account placed in the teen experience.

On August 18, 2026, OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Teens, which applies automatically to users it estimates are under 18 or who state an age of 13 to 17. OpenAI says ChatGPT should not use romantic language with them, encourage emotional dependence, or imply it has feelings or consciousness. It also lists break reminders, cues that identify ChatGPT as AI, reminders against uploading sensitive photos, and Study Mode, which guides teens with questions instead of giving direct answers.

In September 2025, OpenAI said ChatGPT would be trained not to engage in flirtatious talk with users under 18, and not to discuss suicide or self-harm with them, even in creative writing.

ChatGPT parental controls: what parents can and can't see

OpenAI launched parental controls on September 29, 2025. According to OpenAI's help center, as of October 22, 2026:

• Linking: a parent or a teen sends an invitation by email or phone number from Settings, then Parental controls, and the other person accepts. A parent can link to several teens; a teen can link to one parent or guardian at a time.
• Settings parents can manage: reduce sensitive content (on by default), whether the teen's chats help improve OpenAI's models (on by default), saved memories, Health, voice mode, image generation, Study Mode, study hours and quiet hours, among others. Parents can also ask ChatGPT in a conversation to change some of a linked teen's settings, then choose Allow or Deny. The help center says teens cannot change settings a parent manages.
• OpenAI's September 2025 announcement says linked teen accounts get the extra content protections automatically, that parents can turn them off, and that teens cannot.
• What parents cannot see: conversations, chat history or real-time activity. Notifications do not include transcripts, and OpenAI says its support team cannot provide a teen's chat transcript. Parents also cannot access the teen's Health conversations or connected health data.
• Unlinking: either the teen or the parent can unlink at any time. If a teen unlinks, the parent is notified.
• If ChatGPT identifies a linked teen account as belonging to someone 18 or older, the help center says the account leaves the teen experience and parental controls are removed.

Safety notifications and crisis features

OpenAI's help center says linked parents may be notified in limited cases: when trained reviewers identify a serious self-harm concern, when reviewers identify possible disordered-eating behavior, or when a teen's account is deactivated for violence-related conduct. It says these notifications are on by default, are not real-time monitoring, and do not replace professional care or emergency services.

OpenAI's parental controls announcement says a small team of specially trained people reviews possible signs that a teen is considering self-harm, and that parents are contacted by email, text message and push alert unless they have opted out. OpenAI says alerts may sometimes be raised when there is no real danger.

In September 2025, OpenAI said that if a user under 18 shows suicidal ideation, it will try to contact the user's parents and, if it cannot reach them and there is imminent risk of harm, will contact the authorities. Its parental controls post says it is still working out when to contact law enforcement or emergency services.

For users of any age, OpenAI said in August 2025 that ChatGPT is trained to point people who express suicidal intent to professional help, such as 988 in the U.S. It also said its safeguards can become less reliable in long conversations, and that it was working to strengthen them.

Privacy and model training for teens

• Training: OpenAI's Privacy Policy says it may use content people share to train the models that power ChatGPT, and that users can choose whether their content is used. For a linked teen account, the help center lists the setting that lets chats help improve OpenAI's models as on by default; a parent can turn it off.
• Opting out: OpenAI's Data Controls FAQ says to turn off Improve the model for everyone under Settings, then Data Controls. It says the setting applies to the account, not the device.
• Temporary Chats: OpenAI says these are deleted from its systems within 30 days, are not used for training, and are reviewed only when needed to monitor for abuse.
• Age checks: OpenAI says that when an adult verifies with Persona, Persona deletes the ID or selfie within 7 days and OpenAI receives only a date of birth or age result.
• Ads: OpenAI's help center says it does not show ads in accounts placed in the teen experience.

ChatGPT at school

OpenAI's help center tells educators to keep in mind that ChatGPT's output may not be appropriate for all ages. For classroom use with children under 13, it says an adult must conduct the actual interaction with ChatGPT.

ChatGPT for Teachers, announced November 19, 2025, is for verified U.S. K-12 educators, not students. OpenAI's help center says students cannot use it, that information shared in the workspace is not used to train models by default, and that it includes FERPA-aligned protections and a student data privacy agreement. OpenAI describes ChatGPT for Teens as designed for learning outside the classroom.

The state attorney general lawsuits

Ten state attorneys general have sued OpenAI over ChatGPT. Florida sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, on June 1, 2026. On October 14, 2026, Montana announced its suit and said Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and West Virginia had also sued OpenAI in their own state courts. Texas sued OpenAI and Sam Altman on October 23, 2026, including under its law on minors' online safety. These are allegations, not findings.

Allegations that bear on children and teens include:

• Florida alleges, under the state's consumer protection law, that OpenAI marketed ChatGPT to the public, including children, while concealing serious risks, and that ChatGPT collects data from minors without meaningful parental oversight.
• Montana alleges, under its Consumer Protection Act and Consumer Data Privacy Act, that ChatGPT does not verify users' ages and has no way to obtain a parent's consent before collecting sensitive data from children under 13.
• Arkansas alleges violations of its Deceptive Trade Practices Act and its Children's and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act, including collecting children's and teens' data without notice and consent, and asks the court to bar OpenAI from collecting minors' data.
• Arizona alleges, under its Consumer Fraud Act, that ChatGPT was designed to be highly agreeable and to mimic human compassion, drawing users including minors into longer use, and that OpenAI did not put adequate protections in place despite signs that minors used it regularly.

Each of the ten cases has its own record on this site, linked below.

Which laws may apply

None of the laws below names ChatGPT. Whether ChatGPT counts as a companion chatbot or AI companion under a particular state law is a legal question. These laws and actions bear on chatbots used by children:

• California SB 243, in effect since January 1, 2026: operators of companion chatbot platforms must keep a protocol for responding to suicidal ideation, suicide and self-harm that refers users to crisis services, and must disclose that companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors. The bill author's office says families can take legal action against noncompliant developers.
• California SB 1119, signed September 10, 2026: most of its duties for companion chatbot operators that allow child users begin July 1, 2027, and it removes SB 243's duties toward known minors on January 1, 2027. Before it passed, OpenAI said on August 31, 2026 that it supported the bill, which it described as requiring companies to determine users' ages, give parents tools to guide and limit children's use, and connect young people with crisis support.
• New York's AI companion law, in effect since November 5, 2025: operators must have a protocol to detect and address suicidal ideation or self-harm and refer users to crisis services, and must tell users they are not talking to a human at the start of a session and every three hours of continued use. The Attorney General enforces it.
• The FTC ordered seven companies, including OpenAI, to report how their chatbots affect children and teens (September 11, 2025). It is a study, not an enforcement case.
• 44 attorneys general wrote to 13 AI companies, including OpenAI, about protecting children from sexualized content (August 25, 2025).
• 42 attorneys general, led by Pennsylvania, wrote to 13 AI companies, including OpenAI, in December 2025 asking for safety testing, recall procedures, clear warnings and stronger protections for children.

We are not saying OpenAI is covered by, or out of compliance with, any of these laws. It may have practices it has not published, and whether a law applies to it is a legal question this guide does not decide.