Mark Cuban slams OpenAI's erotica plan: "This is going to backfire"
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Mark Cuban speaks at Global Citizen NOW in Detroit on July 10. Photo: Jeff Schear/Getty Images for Global Citizen
Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban said Sam Altman and OpenAI's plan to introduce adult material to ChatGPT will backfire and potentially harm young people.
Why it matters: OpenAI has promised to keep ChatGPT safe for children and teens as it has faced criticism over how the chatbot responds to young people and those in emotional distress.
Catch up quick: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Tuesday that the company will allow more adult material now that it has put ChatGPT safeguards in place to better handle mental health issues.
- Altman wrote on X that the company's "treat adult users like adults" principle will extend to allowing erotica for verified adults.
- He said the rollout is expected around December.
Driving the news: "This is going to backfire. Hard," Cuban wrote in an X post Tuesday night. "No parent is going to trust that their kids can't get through your age gating."
- Cuban says he's not seeking any sort of ban, but warned children could develop unhealthy habits with AI.
- "This isn't about porn. That's everywhere. Including here," he wrote on X. "This is about the connection that can happen and go into who knows what direction with some kid who used their older sibling's log in."
- "Parents today are afraid of books in libraries that kids don't read. They ain't seen nothing yet," he wrote.
Cuban said he doesn't think OpenAI will "age gate successfully enough" and it's unclear if LLMs can be addictive or "psychologically damage" young people.
- "Which in my OPINION, means that parents and schools, that would otherwise want to use ChatGPT because of its current ubiquity, will decide not to use it."
- "It will be an ongoing battle for OpenAI," he added.
Cuban, OpenAI and the Sora app
The criticisms against OpenAI come as Cuban has been one of the faces of OpenAI's video platform app Sora, allowing users to make deepfake videos of him using a cameo he recorded.
- His cameo includes a small plug for his company Cost Plus Drugs, which means the videos double as a promotional tool. (However, some videos of Cuban have removed that plug, including one where he points to a child who he refers to as someone's "boyfriend," based on a user's prompt.)
- "I was just curious what people would come up with, and I wanted to experiment with the plug for costplusdrugs.com. So far it's worked out great," he told Business Insider.
Mark Cuban's thoughts on AI
Zoom out: Cuban supports AI as a tool for young people, telling Axios earlier this month that it levels the playing field for aspiring professionals and low-income entrepreneurs,
- "Right now, if you're a 14- to 18-year-old and you're in not so good circumstances, you have access to the best professors and the best consultants."
- "It allows people who otherwise would not have access to any resources to have access to the best resources in real time. You can compete with anybody."
How pornography and AI intersect
Pornography has historically fueled tech growth, including the rise of digital video and gaming, Axios' Ina Fried writes.
- AI-generated porn has already made waves. Elon Musk's Grok has offered sexual role-play companions.
- Meta, meanwhile, faced backlash after reports suggested its chatbots engaged in sexual conversations with minors.
Go deeper: AI's mental health fix: Stop pretending it's human
