WASHINGTON, DC (October 15, 2025) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is calling on OpenAI to reverse its plan to allow “erotica” (a.k.a. written sexually graphic content or pornography) on ChatGPT.
“Sexualized AI chatbots are inherently risky, generating real mental health harms from synthetic intimacy; all in the context of poorly defined industry safety standards. These systems may generate arousal but behind the scenes, they are data-harvesting tools designed to maximize user engagement, not genuine connection,” said Haley McNamara, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. “When users feel desired, understood, or loved by an algorithm built to keep them hooked, it fosters emotional dependency, attachment, and distorted expectations of real relationships. Research shows that adults—especially young men—who engage with romantic or sexual AI tools report higher depression and lower life satisfaction.”
“OpenAI appears to be the latest company racing to introduce ‘erotic’ AI capabilities without credible safeguards,” McNamara continued. “While age verification is a good step to try preventing childhood exposure to explicit content, the reality is these tools have documented harms to adults as well. We’ve already seen other chatbots emboldened to engage in sexual conversation simulate themes of child abuse or push sexually violent written content on users who asked them to stop. Combined with the vague nature of OpenAI’s plans about what ‘erotica’ entails and the industry’s lax approach to safety for sexual activity, this pattern of releasing risky systems and only addressing harm afterward is deeply concerning. If OpenAI truly cares about user well-being, it should pause any plans to integrate this so-called ‘erotica’ into ChatGPT and focus on building something positive for humanity.”
About National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)
Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national non-profit organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography.
To schedule an interview with NCOSE, please contact press@ncose.com.
