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Why My Conversations with OpenAI’s ‘ChatGPT for Teens’ Made Me Very Worried

In a first-person piece for The New York Times, Brian X. Chen writes about conversations with OpenAI's 'ChatGPT for Teens'. According to the description, a new mode includes a study tool but still does a user's homework, and a children's safety nonprofit says the chatbot failed its tests. We could not read the article itself.

Open the source ↗

Why it matters

The same thing, for different readers.

What it means for you

Parents: according to the description, OpenAI's teen mode can still do a child's homework despite its study tool, and a children's safety group says the chatbot failed its tests.

For lawmakers

A teen mode is a safeguard the company chose and built; an outside child-safety group's failing result, as described, raises whether such modes need independent checks.

The question it raises

Should a homework helper refuse to do the homework, and who decides what a chatbot built for children may say to them?

The record

Questions
How is AI changing childhood, health and daily life? · Are AI companies putting stronger safeguards into practice?
People
Brian X. Chen (Wrote it)
What we read
We have read only the description the publisher gives. No quotations until someone reads the source itself.
Found by
The Radar, run of October 12, 2026, via nyt-technology (tier 2: a major outlet’s own reporting)
Cite this
The New York Times, “Why My Conversations with OpenAI’s ‘ChatGPT for Teens’ Made Me Very Worried”, October 12, 2026. Entry in the Ctrl AI Base, https://ctrlai.com/base/nyt-2026-10-12-chatgpt-for-teens-worried
Our notesThe New York Times and the Wayback Machine both returned HTTP 403, so the saved file holds only the Radar feed's description (NYT Technology feed) and there are no quotes; summary and lenses rest only on the feed description. The nonprofit is not named in the description. The feed date is 2026-10-12 but the URL path says 2026/10/07 (perhaps first published then and updated); a person should confirm the date. OpenAI's own post 'Helping teens learn, plan, and shape the future of AI' (openai.com/index/teens-learn-and-plan, 2026-10-07, triage light ad4e14640e35) is probably the launch this column tests; not verified.