ChatGPT for Teens ships globally with an age-prediction model deciding who gets it

OpenAI began rolling ChatGPT for Teens out globally to eligible under-18 accounts on free and paid personal plans on 18 August 2026. The teen experience bundles Study Mode — guiding questions and step-by-step support instead of finished answers — with new "responsible homework reminders" that try to spot a teen shortcutting an assignment and redirect them into Study Mode. Age-appropriate model protections cover self-harm, violence, eating disorders, dangerous activities and explicit content, and OpenAI also updated its Model Spec with teen provisions. The gating mechanism is the notable part: an age-prediction model now runs on consumer plans and applies the teen safeguards automatically when it believes an account belongs to a minor, rather than waiting for a self-declared birthday.

What it means Anyone building a learning product now has a reference implementation of the compliance shape regulators are pushing toward: infer the age, degrade the experience automatically, and make the pedagogy (guided questions, not answers) the safety feature rather than a bolt-on filter.