Welcome back. Today, OpenAI’s next big product innovation could redefine its customer experience, its brand and its business—not necessarily for the better.

OpenAI’s handpicked council of advisers on well-being and AI have expressed strong reservations about the company’s plan to introduce a ChatGPT feature called “adult mode,” Sam Schechner and Georgia Wells report in a revealing article for The Wall Street Journal.

OpenAI this month announced it is delaying adult mode, which had been set for the first quarter of this year, but said it will arrive nonetheless.

In addition to any risks that adult mode might present for users, I’m curious how this will play out for ChatGPT’s brand and business.

OpenAI ran a Super Bowl ad in 2025 depicting ChatGPT as the latest big win in a human hot streak that previously included fire, the wheel, agriculture, aviation, mapping the genome, space flight and the internet.

But the company’s image has been taking hits lately. First Anthropic used its Super Bowl debut to attack chatbots that take ads, as OpenAI is testing. Then OpenAI upset some employees and users by announcing a deal with the Pentagon hours after it had designated Anthropic a supply-chain risk.

Now OpenAI is pursuing a product feature that may well “treat adult users like adults,” as CEO Sam Altman has said he wants to do, but also feels a little less elevated than discovering DNA.

And speaking of that ads test, marketers are not famous for their comfort with adult content—even if it’s only smut, as a spokeswoman described the plan to the Journal, and not pornography.

Presumably, OpenAI will keep ads away from conversations that it considers adult, or at least give brands an option to avoid that kind of thing. But mistakes could lead to headlines and unhappy advertisers.

So why is this happening now, given the various risks?

Competition is growing, including from AI products that allow explicit content. And critics and advocates of adult mode both think explicit content could help ChatGPT boost growth. They just disagree about whether the negatives outweigh the positives.

Warner Bros. was the big winner at the Oscars last night with dominating performances by two of its releases: “One Battle After Another” (six wins, including best picture) and “Sinners” (four). The studio also put out the horror movie “Weapons,” which snagged a win for best supporting actress Amy Madigan and provided the theme for host Conan O’Brien’s elaborate opening bit/chase scene.

“The unspoken irony of the studio’s sweep,” John Jurgensen pointed out for the Journal, “is that the corporate future for Warner Bros. and its heads, Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, is uncertain given the studio’s pending takeover by another company, David Ellison’s Paramount.”

In other highlights:

• Teyana Taylor, Jessie Buckley and Pedro Pascal all made Vanity Fair’s best-dressed list in looks by Chanel.
• Anna Wintour appeared on stage with “Devil Wears Prada 2” star Anne Hathaway to help present the Oscars for costume design and for makeup and hairstyling.
• One O’Brien bit suggested that the ad mix during the Oscars might look different once YouTube takes over the rights in 2029. As O’Brien tried to assure viewers that the move won’t change the Oscars at all, he was twice interrupted by faux YouTube ads starring Jane Lynch, one for a mega-bright tactical flashlight and the other for a law firm seeking clients who’ve been “injured in a tactical flashlight-related incident.” 
• Burger King used the Oscars broadcast to debut a 90-second commercial copping to run-down restaurants, slow service and a King mascot that “definitely wasn’t helping any of it.”
• A cinematic Coinbase spot encouraged people to escape the game of traditional finance.
• Jimmy Kimmel took a shot at CBS under Ellison. “We hear a lot about courage at shows like this, but telling a story that could get you killed for telling it is real courage,” Kimmel said as he introduced the Oscars for documentary short and feature. “As you know, there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”

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Amazon raised the price of Prime Video’s ad-free tier and renamed it Prime Video Ultra. [THR] 

The fall of Noma’s chef is a warning to other restaurants as they become more involved with advertisers through apps like Resy and Open Table. [NYT]

WPP won’t host its big beach activation at Cannes Lions for the first time since 2022. [Ad Age]

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr warned broadcasters “that are running hoaxes and news distortions” that they could lose their licenses if they don’t “correct course” and “operate in the public interest.” [CNBC] 

Nielsen is delaying a monthly snapshot of TV viewing that’s set to report a decline for streaming. [Variety]

Apparently not every old show gets another go in the streaming era: Hulu put a stake through the heart of its “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot. [Vulture]