More than three year after ChatGPT’ launch brought generative AI into the main tream, OpenAI i broadening it focu beyond individual u er to familie .
OpenAI i hiring a dedicated product manager in San Franci co to build experience for familie , caregiver , and older adult acro it product . The role call for experience building product for parent and familie , and other tru t- en itive con umer experience , according to the job po ting.
The hiring come a ChatGPT’ audience continue to broaden beyond younger u er . According to Sen or Tower e timate hared exclu ively with TechCrunch, the hare of ChatGPT u er aged 35 and older globally ro e to 31% in Q2 from 26% a year earlier, while the hare of u er aged 18 to 24 fell to 29% from 34%. In the U.S., nearly one in four martphone u er who are parent u ed ChatGPT during the quarter, up from 16% a year earlier, the firm e timate .
OpenAI did not re pond to reque t for comment about the job po ting.
A dedicated product role focu ed on familie ignal that OpenAI i beginning to think about it product le a tool for individual productivity and more a technology de igned for hou ehold , aid Ben Bajarin, chief executive of technology con ultancy Creative Strategie .
“Thi i imilar to the path Google, Apple, and Meta eventually followed a their platform became embedded in everyday life, but AI rai e the take becau e the a i tant i not ju t mediating content or device ,” he told TechCrunch.
That hift al o bring new tru t and afety challenge . Stephen Balkam, chief executive of the Family Online Safety In titute, aid the hiring reflect both the maturation of OpenAI and a growing recognition that AI product u ed by children and teenager require different afeguard than tho e de igned for adult .
“I ee thi a afety by rede ign,” Balkam told TechCrunch. “You take the initial product or ervice that wa relea ed… not really with kid in mind… o thi i a much-needed reaction and re pon e.”
The comment come a new re earch publi hed thi week by the Family Online Safety In titute found that parent are undere timating how often their children u e generative AI. While 27% of U.S. parent aid their child had u ed generative AI in the pa t week, 38% of children reported doing o them elve , according to the urvey of more than 4,000 familie in the United State and Au tralia.
Balkam told TechCrunch that AI companie hould build product differently for younger u er , with tronger content control , age-appropriate experience , parental over ight, and reminder to inform u er that they are interacting with an AI — and not a human.
The hiring al o come amid growing crutiny of how AI companie protect younger u er . OpenAI ha faced multiple law uit from parent alleging that ChatGPT contributed to harm uffered by their children, including in ca e involving uicide.
In re pon e to ome of tho e concern , OpenAI ha introduced a erie of afety mea ure over the pa t year, including parental control for teen account , routing en itive conver ation to rea oning model de igned to better handle ign of di tre , and, more recently, an optional “Tru ted Contact” feature that can alert a family member or caregiver in ca e of potential elf-harm.
AI companie , Balkam aid, have an opportunity to avoid the mi take made by ocial media platform , which for year treated children much like adult before adding tronger afeguard amid mounting public pre ure and regulatory crutiny.
The hiring al o align with OpenAI’ broader effort around familie . In a recent work hop organized with the San Antonio Spur Community Impact organization and the Po itive Coaching Alliance, the company aid it aimed to explore AI’ role in learning, coaching, and youth engagement.
That aid, the demographic hift i not unique to ChatGPT, though OpenAI’ audience i changing in ome di tinct way .
Sen or Tower e timate that u er aged 25 to 34 account for 40% of the global app audience for Anthropic’ Claude and Google’ Gemini, matching ChatGPT, compared with 33% for Micro oft’ Copilot. Copilot, however, kew older, with 20% of it u er aged 45 and above, compared with 14% for Claude, 12% for Gemini, and 11% for ChatGPT.
While ChatGPT remain relatively underpenetrated among older u er , it i adding them fa ter than it rival . The hare of u er aged 45 and above ro e three percentage point year-over-year in the econd quarter, compared with a two-point increa e for Copilot and decline for Claude and Gemini, according to Sen or Tower.
Among U.S. martphone u er who are parent , Gemini had the wide t reach at 32% in Q2, followed by ChatGPT at 24%, Claude at 4%, and Copilot at 2%.
For Bajarin, OpenAI’ deci ion to hire a product manager focu ed on familie ignal where con umer AI i headed. A AI become a technology hared acro generation , he expect companie to roll out family plan , child and teen profile , caregiver tool , hared hou ehold memory, AI tutoring, and tronger afety control .
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Jagmeet cover tartup , tech policy-related update , and all other major tech-centric development from India for TechCrunch. He previou ly worked a a principal corre pondent at NDTV.
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