By Lisa Eadicicco, CNN

(CNN) — ChatGPT’s parent company, OpenAI, says it plans to launch parental controls for its popular AI assistant “within the next month” following allegations that it and other chatbots have contributed to self-harm or suicide among teens.

The controls will include the option for parents to link their account with their teen’s account, manage how ChatGPT responds to teen users, disable features like memory and chat history and receive notifications when the system detects “a moment of acute distress” during use. OpenAI previously said it was working on parental controls for ChatGPT, but specified the timeframe for release on Tuesday.

“These steps are only the beginning,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. “We will continue learning and strengthening our approach, guided by experts, with the goal of making ChatGPT as helpful as possible.”

The announcement comes after the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine filed a lawsuit against OpenAI alleging that ChatGPT advised the teenager on his suicide. Last year, a Florida mother sued chatbot platform Character.AI over its alleged role in her 14-year-old son’s suicide. There have also been growing concerns about users forming emotional attachments to ChatGPT, in some cases resulting in delusional episodes and alienation from family, as reports from The New York Times and CNN have indicated.

OpenAI didn’t directly tie its new parental controls to these recent reports, but said in a blog post last week that “recent heartbreaking cases of people using ChatGPT in the midst of acute crises” prompted it to share more detail about its approach to safety. ChatGPT already included measures, such as pointing people to crisis helplines and other resources, an OpenAI spokesperson previously said in a statement to CNN.

But in the statement issued last week in response to Raine’s suicide, the company said its safeguards can sometimes become unreliable when users engage in long conversations with ChatGPT.

“ChatGPT includes safeguards such as directing people to crisis helplines and referring them to real-world resources,” a company spokesperson said last week. “While these safeguards work best in common, short exchanges, we’ve learned over time that they can sometimes become less reliable in long interactions where parts of the model’s safety training may degrade. Safeguards are strongest when every element works as intended, and we will continually improve on them, guided by experts.”

In addition to the parental controls announced Tuesday, OpenAI says it will route conversations with signs of “acute stress” to one of its reasoning models, which the company says follows and applies safety guidelines more consistently. It’s also working with experts in “youth development, mental health and human-computer interaction” to develop future safeguards, including parental controls, the company said.

“While the council will advise on our product, research and policy decisions, OpenAI remains accountable for the choice we make,” the blog post said.

OpenAI has been at the center of the AI boom, with ChatGPT being one of the most widely used AI services with 700 million weekly active users. But it’s been facing increased pressure to ensure the safety of its platform; senators in July wrote a letter to the company demanding information about its efforts in that regard, according to The Washington Post. And advocacy group Common Sense Media said in April that teens under 18 shouldn’t be allowed to use AI “companion” apps because they pose “unacceptable risks.”

The company has also grappled with criticism around ChatGPT’s manner and tone in interactions; in April it rolled back an update that made the chatbot “overly flattering or agreeable.” Last month, it reintroduced the option to switch to older models after users criticized the latest version, GPT-5, for its lack of personality. Former OpenAI executives have also accused the company of paring back safety resources in the past.

OpenAI said it will roll out additional safety measures over the next 120 days, adding that this work has been underway prior to Tuesday’s announcement.

“This work will continue well beyond this period of time, but we’re making a focused effort to launch as many of these improvements as possible this year,” it said.

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CNN’s Clare Duffy contributed to this report.