Oct 14 (Reuters) - OpenAI will allow mature content for

ChatGPT users who verify their age on the platform starting in

December, CEO Sam Altman said, after the chatbot was made

restrictive for users in mental distress.

"As we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our

'treat adult users like adults' principle, we will allow even

more, like erotica for verified adults," Altman wrote in a post

on X on Tuesday.

Altman said that OpenAI had made ChatGPT "pretty

restrictive" to make sure it was being careful with mental

health issues, though that made the chatbot "less

useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health

problems."

OpenAI has been able to mitigate mental health issues and

has new tools, Altman said, adding that it is going to safely

relax restrictions in most cases.

In the coming weeks, OpenAI will release a version of

ChatGPT that will allow people to better dictate the tone and

personality of the chatbot, Altman said.

"If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like

way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should

do it (but only if you want it, not because we are

usage-maxxing)," according to Altman.

Earlier on Tuesday, Meta unveiled a new system to

limit what users under 18 can see on Instagram and its

generative AI tools, using filters inspired by the PG-13 movie

rating system.