OpenAI tightens ChatGPT's violence safeguards and limits weapons information for teens

OpenAI announced stronger violence-prevention measures in ChatGPT and a commitment to a public Community Safety Report. Everything below is OpenAI's account; it says the safeguards begin rolling out "in the next few weeks".

• All users: ChatGPT will give less detailed answers about past mass attacks and their perpetrators, even when the information is available elsewhere. OpenAI says it is restricting reconstructions of attacks, including the weapons and equipment used and how they were obtained, and detailed comparisons of the scale of harm. These limits apply regardless of age or reason for asking.
• Warning signs: when recent chats show signs of possible violence, ChatGPT will respond more conservatively with information that could be misused, and OpenAI is working to apply the same stricter limits when it predicts a user is under 18. When a conversation shows fixation on seriously harming someone, ChatGPT will be able to end the chat automatically; if it ends several chats for that reason, the account may be temporarily paused.
• Teens: further limits on weapons-related information and on practical information about weapons and security systems, even when a question seems harmless. OpenAI says it has strengthened its age prediction, and that users wrongly placed in the under-18 experience can confirm they are adults through Persona. It is working on parent notifications when a teen's account is paused for repeatedly discussing violence.
• Reporting: OpenAI says it made over 200 law enforcement referrals in Q3 2026. It plans to publish its first Community Safety Report in early 2027, covering the second half of 2026, then every six months.