OpenAI bets on families as ChatGPT goes deeper into households

Over three years since ChatGPT propelled generative AI into the spotlight, OpenAI is expanding its scope from individual users to entire households.

OpenAI is recruiting a product manager in San Francisco to develop family-oriented experiences across its platforms, targeting parents, caregivers, and seniors. The position requires a background in creating products for families and other trust-sensitive consumer applications, according to the job listing.

This recruitment aligns with ChatGPT’s evolving user base, which is aging beyond its initial younger demographic. Sensor Tower data, shared exclusively with TechCrunch, indicates that globally, users aged 35 and older comprised 31% of ChatGPT’s audience in Q2, up from 26% a year prior, while the 18-to-24 age group dropped to 29% from 34%. In the U.S., nearly 25% of smartphone-using parents accessed ChatGPT during the quarter, a significant rise from 16% the previous year.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the job posting.

Ben Bajarin, CEO of Creative Strategies, noted that this dedicated family-focused role suggests OpenAI is shifting its perspective from individual productivity tools to household-centric technology.

“This mirrors the trajectory of Google, Apple, and Meta as their platforms became integral to daily life, but AI intensifies the stakes because the assistant mediates more than just content or devices,” he told TechCrunch.

This transition introduces complex trust and safety issues. Stephen Balkam, CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute, stated that the hiring reflects OpenAI’s maturation and the growing acknowledgment that AI products for minors require distinct safeguards compared to those for adults.

“I view this as safety by redesign,” Balkam explained. “It involves taking an initial product not originally designed with children in mind and making the necessary adjustments.”

These remarks follow new research from the Family Online Safety Institute, which reveals that parents underestimate their children’s use of generative AI. A survey of over 4,000 families in the U.S. and Australia showed that while 27% of parents reported their child used generative AI in the past week, 38% of children confirmed doing so.

Balkam advised AI companies to develop distinct products for younger users, featuring robust content controls, age-appropriate interfaces, parental oversight, and clear indicators that users are interacting with AI rather than a human.

Image Credits:Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

The recruitment occurs amidst increasing scrutiny over how AI firms protect younger demographics. OpenAI has faced several lawsuits from parents alleging that ChatGPT contributed to harm experienced by their children, including cases involving suicide.

In response, OpenAI has implemented various safety measures over the past year, including parental controls for teen accounts, routing sensitive conversations to reasoning models better equipped to handle distress signals, and recently introducing an optional “Trusted Contact” feature to alert family members or caregivers in potential self-harm scenarios.

Balkam noted that AI companies have the opportunity to avoid the pitfalls of social media platforms, which treated children similarly to adults for years before adding stronger safeguards under public and regulatory pressure.

This hiring also fits within OpenAI’s broader family initiatives. In a recent workshop with the San Antonio Spurs Community Impact organization and the Positive Coaching Alliance, the company highlighted its interest in exploring AI’s role in learning, coaching, and youth engagement.

However, this demographic shift is not unique to ChatGPT, although OpenAI’s audience changes in distinct ways.

Sensor Tower estimates that users aged 25 to 34 make up 40% of the global app audiences for Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini, matching ChatGPT, compared to 33% for Microsoft’s Copilot. Copilot skews older, with 20% of its users aged 45 and above, compared to 14% for Claude, 12% for Gemini, and 11% for ChatGPT.

While ChatGPT remains less prevalent among older users, it is gaining them faster than competitors. The share of users aged 45 and above rose by three percentage points year-over-year in Q2, compared to a two-point increase for Copilot and declines for Claude and Gemini, according to Sensor Tower.

Among U.S. smartphone-using parents, Gemini had the widest reach at 32% in Q2, followed by ChatGPT at 24%, Claude at 4%, and Copilot at 2%.

For Bajarin, OpenAI’s decision to hire a family-focused product manager indicates the future direction of consumer AI. As AI becomes a multi-generational technology, he anticipates companies will introduce family plans, child and teen profiles, caregiver tools, shared household memory, AI tutoring, and enhanced safety controls.