In this addendum, OpenAI explains that GPT-5 has been enhanced to respond more safely and thoughtfully during emotionally fraught or distressing conversations. The update (launched October 3) benefitted from collaboration with more than 170 clinicians and mental-health experts, allowing GPT-5 to more reliably detect signs of distress (e.g., psychosis, mania, self-harm risk), de-escalate conversations and direct users toward real-world professional help.
The company reports that the proportion of responses falling short of its safety expectations dropped by 65-80 % compared to the prior version.
Additional measures include routing sensitive chats to a reasoning-capable model, expanding access to crisis hotlines, and adding reminders for long sessions.
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