OpenAI is hiring a dedicated product manager to build ChatGPT experiences for families, caregivers, and older adults, marking a strategic shift toward household adoption.

The San Francisco-based role seeks candidates with experience building products for parents and families, according to the job posting. The position focuses on developing trust-sensitive consumer experiences across OpenAI's product suite.

ChatGPT's user demographics are shifting older. According to Sensor Tower estimates, users aged 35 and older globally rose to 31% in Q2 from 26% a year earlier, while 18-24 year olds fell to 29% from 34%.

In the US, nearly one in four smartphone users who are parents used ChatGPT during the quarter, up from 16% a year earlier.

Why families matter for AI

The dedicated product role signals OpenAI is thinking about its products less as individual productivity tools and more as household technology, said Ben Bajarin, chief executive of Creative Strategies.

"This is similar to the path Google, Apple, and Meta eventually followed as their platforms became embedded in everyday life, but AI raises the stakes because the assistant is not just mediating content or devices," he said.

The shift brings new trust and safety challenges. Stephen Balkam, chief executive of the Family Online Safety Institute, said the hiring reflects growing recognition that AI products used by children require different safeguards than adult-focused tools.

"I see this as safety by redesign," Balkam said. "You take the initial product or service that was released… not really with kids in mind… so this is a much-needed reaction and response."

New research from the Family Online Safety Institute found parents underestimate children's AI usage. While 27% of US parents said their child used generative AI in the past week, 38% of children reported doing so themselves.

The family focus comes more than three years after ChatGPT's launch brought generative AI into the mainstream. OpenAI did not respond to requests for comment about the job posting.