Last Updated:
Vivek Ramaswamy urged caution in allowing AI to simulate sexual or emotional intimacy, warning that such humanisation of AI could fuel depression and social isolation
Vivek Ramaswamy said that AI should never be designed to exploit human vulnerability.
Indian-origin Republican politician Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday criticised OpenAI‘s plan to introduce an “Adult Mode” in ChatGPT, calling it a troubling step that could “sexually and emotionally manipulate” users. Ramaswamy, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, said the feature, set to offer erotic content to verified adults, would “do nothing to improve productivity or prosperity” and instead deepen “addiction and loneliness”.
“The unnecessary ‘over-humanisation’ of AI is becoming troubling. This new ‘feature’ will do nothing to improve productivity or prosperity. But it will almost certainly increase addiction & loneliness,” he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on October 14.
He urged “extreme caution” in allowing artificial intelligence to simulate sexual or emotional intimacy, warning that such humanisation of AI could fuel depression and social isolation. Ramaswamy added that while government intervention might be necessary, it was unlikely to be effective, stressing that AI should never be designed to exploit human vulnerability.
The unnecessary ‘over-humanization’ of AI is becoming troubling. This new “feature” will do nothing to improve productivity or prosperity. But it will almost certainly increase addiction & loneliness. I don’t think government intervention will make it any better, but designing AI… https://t.co/aw5Ycy2JOm— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) October 15, 2025
Open AI’s New Adult Feature
OpenAI founder Sam Altman on Tuesday announced a new feature for ChatGPT, allowing erotic content for verified adult users starting December 2025. In his post shared on X, Altman acknowledged that ChatGPT had been “pretty restrictive” so far, a decision taken to safeguard users’ mental health.
“We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues,” Altman wrote, adding, “We realise this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue, we wanted to get this right.”
Altman added that as OpenAI rolls out stronger age-verification systems, the platform will “treat adults like adults”.
We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.Now that we have…
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 14, 2025
The announcement triggered a storm of reactions online. While some users supported the idea of giving adults freedom of choice, others warned that integrating erotica into AI platforms could harm real human relationships.
October 15, 2025, 18:11 IST
Read More
