OpenAI to Allow Adult Erotica; Microsoft Opposes

OpenAI will allow erotic content for verified adult users in a December ChatGPT update under a “treat adult users like adults” approach that includes age verification, a change partly driven by monetization pressures. Microsoft’s AI chief Mustafa Suleyman said Microsoft will not build “simulated erotica” into its chatbots, calling it “very dangerous,” a stance that directly contrasts with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s announcement. Elon Musk’s xAI (Grok) and other startups are already experimenting with companion-style, sexualized avatars, highlighting a growing industry split. The divergence comes as Microsoft and OpenAI drift strategically—Microsoft has invested roughly $13 billion in OpenAI while OpenAI has pursued large computing deals reportedly with Oracle, and Microsoft is pushing its own Copilot and Windows/Edge AI products. Experts and child-development specialists warn intimacy-simulating AIs can normalize emotional attachment, raise privacy and mental-health risks, and particularly endanger teens, and analysts say the dispute underscores broader legal, ethical and commercial tensions.