OpenAI is changing how it trains AI models to explicitly embrace “intellectual freedom … no matter how challenging or controversial a topic may be,” the company says in a new policy.

As a result, ChatGPT will eventually be able to answer more questions, offer more perspectives, and reduce the number of topics the AI chatbot won’t talk about.

The changes might be part of OpenAI’s effort to land in the good graces of the new Trump administration, but it also seems to be part of a broader shift in Silicon Valley and what’s considered “AI safety.”

On Wednesday, OpenAI announced an update to its Model Spec, a 187-page document that lays out how the company trains AI models to behave. In it, OpenAI unveiled a new guiding principle: Do not lie, either by making untrue statements or by omitting important context.

In a new section called “Seek the truth together,” OpenAI says it wants ChatGPT to not take an editorial stance, even if some users find that morally wrong or offensive. That means ChatGPT will offer multiple perspectives on controversial subjects, all in an effort to be neutral.

Shifting values for Silicon Valley

Mark Zuckerberg made waves last month by reorienting Meta’s businesses around First Amendment principles. He praised Elon Musk in the process, saying the owner of X took the right approach by using Community Notes — a community-driven content moderation program — to safeguard free speech.

In practice, both X and Meta ended up dismantling their longstanding trust and safety teams, allowing more controversial posts on their platforms and amplifying conservative voices.

Changes at X may have hurt its relationships with advertisers, but that could have more to do with Musk, who has taken the unusual step of suing some of them for boycotting the platform. Early signs indicate that Meta’s advertisers were unfazed by Zuckerberg’s free speech pivot.

Meanwhile, many tech companies beyond X and Meta have walked back from left-leaning policies that dominated Silicon Valley for the last several decades. Google, Amazon, and Intel have eliminated or scaled back diversity initiatives in the last year.

OpenAI may be reversing course, too. The ChatGPT-maker seems to have recently scrubbed a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion from its website.

As OpenAI embarks on one of the largest American infrastructure projects ever with Stargate, a $500 billion AI datacenter, its relationship with the Trump administration is increasingly important. At the same time, the ChatGPT maker is vying to unseat Google Search as the dominant source of information on the internet.

Coming up with the right answers may prove key to both.

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