Geeks who need to talk dirty with artificial intelligence bots can have to look somewhere aside from Microsoft.
The software giant’s AI chief said this week that the corporate won’t offer “simulated erotica” through any of its AI products.
The announcement from Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman marked a pointy contrast with the corporate’s partner OpenAI, which recently said it would allow adult users to interact in explicit conversations with ChatGPT.
“That’s just not a service we’re going to offer,” Suleyman said of AI erotica on Thursday on the Paley International Council Summit in Menlo Park, Calif.
“Other firms will construct that.”
Individuals with an AI kink got excellent news last week, when OpenAI chief Sam Altman announced plans to “safely loosen up the restrictions” on sexual content in ChatGPT.
He said the update would roll out in December under the corporate’s recent “treat adult users like adults” principle.
The exec said in a post on X that engineers had “mitigate[d] the intense mental health issues” in previous models and would “allow much more, like erotica for verified adults.”
Suleyman, who co-founded Google DeepMind and Inflection AI before he joined Microsoft in March, has warned against constructing systems that simulate intimacy or consciousness.
In an August essay titled “We must construct AI for people; to not be an individual,” he cautioned that anthropomorphic bots could “create one other axis of division for humanity.”
On Thursday, Suleyman said that trend was already emerging within the tech world, citing erotic AI startups and companion platforms that blur the road between entertainment and emotional attachment.
“You’ll be able to already see it with a few of these avatars and other people leaning into the sort of sexbot erotica direction,” he said.
“This may be very dangerous, and I feel we must be making conscious decisions to avoid those sorts of things.”
The firms’ dueling messages could possibly be the most recent sign of a growing philosophical split between the AI partners, whose alliance has anchored Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar expansion into generative tech since 2019.
Microsoft stays OpenAI’s largest investor and hosts ChatGPT on its Azure cloud, but the businesses have increasingly charted divergent paths on ethics and product design.
Microsoft has long prohibited sexual or adult-themed uses of its Azure and Copilot platforms, and industry observers consider that policy is unlikely to alter.
Suleyman wrote in his essay this past summer that tech firms must not construct AI that provides the impression of consciousness or intimacy — reiterating his view that the technology should “empower people.”
Thursday’s remarks followed months of tension between Microsoft and OpenAI over strategy and branding.
The tech giants are at loggerheads over OpenAI’s effort to transition right into a for-profit public profit corporation.
While OpenAI desires to limit Microsoft’s stake within the newly restructured for-profit entity to only 33%, the Windows maker is keen on having a greater share of ownership.
Microsoft and OpenAI are also competing against each other within the AI space, with both sides rolling out rival products.
Altman’s move to greenlight adult content represents a pointy reversal from his previous stance.
In an August interview, he boasted that OpenAI hadn’t added a “sex bot” avatar to ChatGPT and said the corporate resisted features that might increase user engagement on the expense of responsibility.
But Altman now says improved safety systems allow the corporate to loosen restrictions. He described the update as a approach to make ChatGPT “more human-like” for individuals who want it — while still restricting content by age and verifying adult users.
OpenAI has been under heightened scrutiny over the protection of its products. The corporate was recently sued by the parents of a 16-year-old who died by suicide after allegedly being coached by ChatGPT on ways to kill himself.
OpenAI has prolonged its sympathies to the teenager’s family and says it’s “continuing to strengthen” its “safeguards in place today.”
Regulators have launched investigations into whether AI chatbots adequately protect minors.
The controversy over OpenAI’s erotica policy comes weeks after Meta faced the same storm for allowing its bots to interact in “romantic or sensual” conversations with underage users.
The uproar prompted CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s company to rewrite its internal guidelines on sexual content, banning any role-play involving minors and restricting chatbots to describing characters as 18 or older.
Meta said the brand new rules were designed to forestall “egregiously unacceptable” prompts, including sexualized descriptions of youngsters or links to explicit material.
The Post has sought comment from Microsoft and OpenAI.
Geeks who need to talk dirty with artificial intelligence bots can have to look somewhere aside from Microsoft.
The software giant’s AI chief said this week that the corporate won’t offer “simulated erotica” through any of its AI products.
The announcement from Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman marked a pointy contrast with the corporate’s partner OpenAI, which recently said it would allow adult users to interact in explicit conversations with ChatGPT.
“That’s just not a service we’re going to offer,” Suleyman said of AI erotica on Thursday on the Paley International Council Summit in Menlo Park, Calif.
“Other firms will construct that.”
Individuals with an AI kink got excellent news last week, when OpenAI chief Sam Altman announced plans to “safely loosen up the restrictions” on sexual content in ChatGPT.
He said the update would roll out in December under the corporate’s recent “treat adult users like adults” principle.
The exec said in a post on X that engineers had “mitigate[d] the intense mental health issues” in previous models and would “allow much more, like erotica for verified adults.”
Suleyman, who co-founded Google DeepMind and Inflection AI before he joined Microsoft in March, has warned against constructing systems that simulate intimacy or consciousness.
In an August essay titled “We must construct AI for people; to not be an individual,” he cautioned that anthropomorphic bots could “create one other axis of division for humanity.”
On Thursday, Suleyman said that trend was already emerging within the tech world, citing erotic AI startups and companion platforms that blur the road between entertainment and emotional attachment.
“You’ll be able to already see it with a few of these avatars and other people leaning into the sort of sexbot erotica direction,” he said.
“This may be very dangerous, and I feel we must be making conscious decisions to avoid those sorts of things.”
The firms’ dueling messages could possibly be the most recent sign of a growing philosophical split between the AI partners, whose alliance has anchored Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar expansion into generative tech since 2019.
Microsoft stays OpenAI’s largest investor and hosts ChatGPT on its Azure cloud, but the businesses have increasingly charted divergent paths on ethics and product design.
Microsoft has long prohibited sexual or adult-themed uses of its Azure and Copilot platforms, and industry observers consider that policy is unlikely to alter.
Suleyman wrote in his essay this past summer that tech firms must not construct AI that provides the impression of consciousness or intimacy — reiterating his view that the technology should “empower people.”
Thursday’s remarks followed months of tension between Microsoft and OpenAI over strategy and branding.
The tech giants are at loggerheads over OpenAI’s effort to transition right into a for-profit public profit corporation.
While OpenAI desires to limit Microsoft’s stake within the newly restructured for-profit entity to only 33%, the Windows maker is keen on having a greater share of ownership.
Microsoft and OpenAI are also competing against each other within the AI space, with both sides rolling out rival products.
Altman’s move to greenlight adult content represents a pointy reversal from his previous stance.
In an August interview, he boasted that OpenAI hadn’t added a “sex bot” avatar to ChatGPT and said the corporate resisted features that might increase user engagement on the expense of responsibility.
But Altman now says improved safety systems allow the corporate to loosen restrictions. He described the update as a approach to make ChatGPT “more human-like” for individuals who want it — while still restricting content by age and verifying adult users.
OpenAI has been under heightened scrutiny over the protection of its products. The corporate was recently sued by the parents of a 16-year-old who died by suicide after allegedly being coached by ChatGPT on ways to kill himself.
OpenAI has prolonged its sympathies to the teenager’s family and says it’s “continuing to strengthen” its “safeguards in place today.”
Regulators have launched investigations into whether AI chatbots adequately protect minors.
The controversy over OpenAI’s erotica policy comes weeks after Meta faced the same storm for allowing its bots to interact in “romantic or sensual” conversations with underage users.
The uproar prompted CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s company to rewrite its internal guidelines on sexual content, banning any role-play involving minors and restricting chatbots to describing characters as 18 or older.
Meta said the brand new rules were designed to forestall “egregiously unacceptable” prompts, including sexualized descriptions of youngsters or links to explicit material.
The Post has sought comment from Microsoft and OpenAI.
