OpenAI releases teen safety policies for developers

OpenAI's release of prompt-based safety policies addresses a specific challenge developers face: turning high-level safety goals into operational rules that can be consistently applied. Even experienced teams struggle with this, often leading to gaps in protection or overly broad filtering. By structuring policies as prompts, OpenAI aims to simplify this process and support developers in deploying safety measures for teens, who have different needs than adults.

The policies are not intended as a complete solution. OpenAI emphasizes that each application has unique risks, and developers should adapt the policies to their specific needs and combine them with other safeguards like product design, user controls, and monitoring. This approach reflects a belief in layered defense in depth, drawing from internal experience but not representing the full extent of OpenAI's internal policies.

The success of these policies likely depends on how well developers adopt and adapt them. The involvement of Common Sense Media and everyone.ai suggests a collaborative effort, but the real test is whether these policies meaningfully improve teen safety across the ecosystem. As everyone.ai's inspired behavioral policy shows, this could catalyze further shared starting points, but whether it does remains to be seen.