SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — OpenAI has put plans for a sexually explicit chatbot on hold indefinitely, the company said Thursday, amid mounting concerns about the societal and reputational risks of releasing such a product.

The move, first reported by the Financial Times, comes as the artificial intelligence giant seeks to shed what executives have described as peripheral projects as it tries to maintain its lead in the AI market.

OpenAI told the newspaper it wanted to conduct long-term research into the effects of sexually explicit conversations and emotional attachments before making any product decision.

Asked for comment, an OpenAI spokesperson told AFP the company had “nothing further to add.”

The explicit content feature, internally dubbed “Citron mode,” had drawn pushback from both staff and investors, the FT reported.

Some employees questioned whether the product was compatible with OpenAI’s stated mission of ensuring the technology benefits humanity, while investors raised concerns about the reputational risks relative to any commercial upside, according to the report.

OpenAI said last year it would relax restrictions on its ChatGPT chatbot, including allowing erotic content for verified adult users as part of what the company described as a principle to “treat adult users like adults.”

The dropping of the plan comes the same week that OpenAI announced it was winding down its Sora video social media app, which has been accused of triggering a flood of low value-added AI content online.

The decisions come at a sensitive moment for the tech industry, with Meta and other social media companies facing a wave of lawsuits — and regulations — over the impact of their platforms on minors.

The United States (US) Federal Trade Commission has also launched an inquiry into several tech companies, including OpenAI, over how AI chatbots could negatively affect children and teenagers.

Elon Musk’s rival AI venture xAI drew global condemnation last year after its Grok chatbot was used to generate fabricated sexual images of real people, including children.

OpenAI has also faced its own legal challenges from families of teenagers who say ChatGPT caused harm and even suicide among young people, prompting the company to introduce an age-verification system.

The company deployed a behaviour-based age prediction technology that estimates whether a user is over or under 18 based on how they interact with ChatGPT.