New Delhi: OpenAI is gearing up for something new that users can’t even expect from the company. They are going to release a new version of ChatGPT in the coming weeks that will respond in a more natural, human-like way while easing many of the restrictions currently in place. The update was recently confirmed by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who posted on X, saying that the company initially made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to safeguard users dealing with mental health challenges, but now plans to relax the restrictions in most cases safely.
We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.
Now that we have…
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 14, 2025
According to the company, the upcoming update will let users customise how ChatGPT behaves, including its tone, level of friendliness, and even the amount of emojis it uses in conversations. Those personality traits will only be enabled when the users choose to activate them. The goal, he added, is not to maximise engagement but to make the tool more flexible and enjoyable for those who want a more expressive AI companion. A significant change will also arrive later this year. OpenAI plans to introduce age verification in December, which will unlock what Altman described in that post on X. The company is framing this part of its border treat adult users like adults principle.
The CEO also explains that the original limitations were implemented to prevent ChatGPT from worsening mental health issues, particularly in conversations involving distress or self-harm. However, the same restrictions also made the chatbot less engaging for the users who have no such concerns. Latest safety detection tools and monitoring systems now in place, OpenAI believes it can strike a better balance between responsibility and realism in its responses.
