Three years after ChatGPT brought generative AI into the mainstream, OpenAI is shifting its strategy from individual users to entire families. The company is hiring a product manager in San Francisco to build experiences for families, caregivers, and older adults across its product line. The job posting, which seeks someone with experience in trust-sensitive consumer products, signals a deliberate move to embed AI deeper into domestic life.

The demographic shift is already underway. According to Sensor Tower data shared exclusively with TechCrunch, the share of ChatGPT users aged 35 and older globally rose to 31% in the second quarter, up from 26% a year earlier. Meanwhile, the 18-to-24 age bracket dropped from 34% to 29%. In the U.S., nearly one in four smartphone users who are parents used ChatGPT during that quarter, compared to 16% the year before. Ben Bajarin, CEO of Creative Strategies, said the move mirrors how Google, Apple, and Meta eventually expanded from personal tools to household platforms, but noted that AI raises the stakes because the assistant mediates more than just content or devices.

The family focus also brings new trust and safety challenges. Stephen Balkam, CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute, called the hiring a necessary redesign for products that were not originally built with children in mind. His group’s research found that parents underestimate their children’s AI use: 38% of kids reported using generative AI in the past week, versus 27% of parents who thought their child had. OpenAI has already introduced parental controls, sensitive conversation routing, and a Trusted Contact feature for potential self-harm cases. As AI becomes a shared household technology, Bajarin expects companies to roll out family plans, child profiles, caregiver tools, and stronger safety controls.

Source: TechCrunch