OpenAI bets on families as ChatGPT goes deeper into households

AI companies, Balkam said, have an opportunity to avoid the mistakes made by social media platforms, which for years treated children much like adults before adding stronger safeguards amid mounting public pressure and regulatory scrutiny.

The hiring also aligns with OpenAI’s broader efforts around families. In a recent workshop organized with the San Antonio Spurs Community Impact organization and the Positive Coaching Alliance, the company said it aimed to explore AI’s role in learning, coaching, and youth engagement.

That said, the demographic shift is not unique to ChatGPT, though OpenAI’s audience is changing in some distinct ways.

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

While ChatGPT remains relatively underpenetrated among older users, it is adding them faster than its rivals. The share of users aged 45 and above rose three percentage points year-over-year in the second quarter, compared with a two-point increase for Copilot and declines for Claude and Gemini, according to Sensor Tower.

Among U.S. smartphone users who are 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 product manager focused on families signals where consumer AI is headed. As AI becomes a technology shared across generations, he expects companies to roll out family plans, child and teen profiles, caregiver tools, shared household memory, AI tutoring, and stronger safety controls.