OpenAI unveils MentalHealthBench, an open safety benchmark for AI mental-health conversations that tests context gathering, user agency and actionable guidance across synthetic emotional, high-acuity and emergency scenarios reviewed by 80 professionals from 22 countries.
OpenAI updates ChatGPT’s default GPT-5 to better respond to self-harm, psychosis and unhealthy emotional reliance, adding crisis-hotline access, safer model routing and break reminders while reporting 65–80% fewer responses that miss its safety standards.
OpenAI says it is handling mental health-related lawsuits transparently while tightening ChatGPT safeguards, arguing in the Raine case that the complaint selectively omits context from chat transcripts filed under seal.
Anthropic launches a $5 million grant program funding independent research into AI's impact on user wellbeing, offering clinicians, psychologists, and methodologists funding, model access, and technical support, with applications due September 21.
Friend CEO Avi Schiffmann launches a $249 AI companion pendant 2.0 with a built-in speaker, OpenAI-powered upgrades, and randomly assigned voices, targeting lonely users as he pushes to scale sales from 5,000 to 50,000 units despite widespread public criticism.
Teenagers are turning to AI chatbots for emotional support, reporting they feel more understood and less judged by AI than by real people, prompting researchers to urge policymakers to address teens' unmet emotional needs rather than simply restricting AI access.
A alarming new survey of over 1,300 teens reveals nearly half have been exposed to AI-generated explicit content, with one in four reporting they've seen such material depicting themselves or someone they know, sparking urgent concerns about safety, body image, and relationship expectations among young people.
A alarming new survey reveals 44% of teens have encountered AI-generated sexual content, with most exposures accidental, leaving two-thirds fearing they'll become deepfake targets and 60% reporting distorted perceptions of real bodies, as pressure mounts on tech platforms and lawmakers to act.
China enacts sweeping legislation banning AI companion chatbots for minors and prohibiting their development entirely, directly targeting the country's fourth consecutive year of record-low birth rates by pushing young people toward real-life relationships.
A new Oxford survey reveals millions of UK adults are turning to AI chatbots for emotional support, relationship advice, and health guidance, even as Stanford researchers and experts issue urgent warnings that AI therapy tools can produce harmful responses, reinforce stigma, and compromise user privacy.