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OpenAI and Anthropic have unveiled new strategies that use AI to identify and protect underage users on their platforms. Although the modifications seek to enhance safety for teenagers, concerns persist regarding accuracy, misidentification, and possible inconvenience for mature users.
Currently, age verification essentially serves no practical purpose. It simply inquires if you are above a specific age, and altering your birthdate is straightforward. However, in 2025, we observe that companies such as Google are making proactive efforts to confirm a user’s age. Currently, both OpenAI and Anthropic are contributing by revealing new methods for identifying underage users.
OpenAI and Anthropic Reveal Methods for Predicting Underage Users
OpenAI has announced that ChatGPT will soon incorporate four additional safeguards to protect users under 18. The list prioritises teen safety, a focus that OpenAI states will take precedence even when it clashes with other objectives. It will additionally foster tangible support by promoting in-person connections.
Teenagers will be dealt with “warmth and respect,” meaning they will receive answers that are respectful rather than condescending, treating them as young individuals rather than adults. These changes are significant, particularly after reports of several incidents where people have died by suicide due to interactions with AI models that consistently affirmed their views.
Anthropic does not permit underage people below 18 years old to access its Claude model. It is also implementing modifications that can identify and deactivate accounts of underage users. This is accomplished by identifying specific conversational cues that indicate the user is a minor. ChatGPT’s Adult Mode set to launch in 2026 will also use conversational cues to verify age.
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Challenges in Using the Age-verification Systems
Though OpenAI and Anthropic’s latest move to protect underage users is laudable, it’s difficult not to doubt its efficacy. Additionally, as mentioned, Google launched comparable age-verification tools earlier this year. Regrettably, it was quite imperfect as well.
Many users report that, despite being not underage, Google’s systems incorrectly categorised them. Users can resolve this issue by providing documents to verify their age. However, all of these creates an unnecessary obstacle when all users wish to browse or view a video online.
