Since last year, YouTube has been cracking down on non-age-verified accounts. Although the goal is to protect the platform’s youngest viewers, the age-prediction system YouTube deployed has wrongly ensnared countless accounts owned by adults. If you’re tagged by the system, you can restore full access to your account, but only if you provide proof of your age first. Now OpenAI is following YouTube’s lead and rolling its own age-prediction system for ChatGPT accounts.
First announced back in September 2025, OpenAI says it is now rolling out its age prediction system for ChatGPT consumer accounts. Similar to the YouTube tool, the system will guess the age of the user and place them in one of two categories: over 18 or under 18. According to the firm, your age will be determined by a combination of several factors, such as:
- How long the account has existed
- Typical times of day when someone is active
- Usage patterns over time
- A user’s stated age
If the system identifies your account as belonging to someone under the age of 18, “additional protections” will be placed on the account. These protections will reduce exposure to certain types of content, like graphic and violent images, risky viral challenges, sexual role play, depictions of self-harm, and more. The company notes that parents will be able to customize their child’s experience through the parental controls, like setting “Quiet hours.”
Of course, this system will make mistakes, just like YouTube’s tool does. In a situation where the system can’t tell the age of the user, OpenAI says it will default to the under-18 category. If you’re incorrectly placed into the under-18 category, you’ll have to take a selfie and submit it to Persona, a secure identity-verification service, to regain full access. You’ll be able to check if any restrictions were placed on your account by going to Settings > Account.
