ChatGPT Adult Mode Delayed Again As OpenAI’s ‘Code Red’ Reportedly Comes To An End

According to recent reports, OpenAI has officially ended its internal “code red” period started in December 2025. The initiative had put several non–ChatGPT projects on hold so that the company could focus its energy on improving its flagship chatbot and rolling out new AI models. Now that the emergency phase has ended, OpenAI is reportedly derailing the heavily hyped ChatGPT “Adult Mode” feature, which has been a long time coming and increasingly alluded to, in order to refocus on other high-priority designs.

OpenAI’s ‘Code Red’ Reportedly Ends

OpenAI is ending that code red, which had been in place company-wide for almost four months, journalist Alex Heath reported on Substack.

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The emergency phase apparently came to an end once the company shipped GPT-5. 4 AI models earlier this week. During this code red period, OpenAI has focused on ChatGPT and made several updates.

Here are some of the key developments during this period:

- Launch of three new AI models

- Announce several new ChatGPT features

- More focus toward polishing the chatbot and its capabilities

Earlier, Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s chief executive of applications, had said on a podcast that the code red would lift once a new AI model was released.

She also explained that the move primarily impacted ChatGPT and product research teams and said long-term research projects had continued running in the meantime.

ChatGPT Adult Mode Delayed Again

However, after the code red period was over, OpenAI apparently deferred the deployment of ChatGPT’s “Adult Mode” feature again.

A company spokesperson said the feature is now being put on hold at the moment, as the company prioritises other things, like:

- Improving AI intelligence

- Improving chatbot personality and behaviour

- Expanding personalisation features

- Making ChatGPT more proactive on helping users

“We still believe in treating adults as adults, but it’s going to take longer to get the experience right,” the spokesperson said.

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Timeline of the Adult Mode Feature

The feature has been delayed multiple times since it was announced.

OpenAI has not indicated when the feature might actually arrive.

What’s Next for OpenAI

Now that the code red is reportedly in the past, the company should be able to expand its focus again on new products and initiatives outside of ChatGPT.

Reports suggest OpenAI could explore:

- New features for the Sora app

- AI agent-assisted social networking platforms

- Broader AI tools and services