Can a 10 year old use ChatGPT?

No. A 10 year old cannot use ChatGPT under the current age requirement. OpenAI’s terms of use, effective January 1, 2026, say you must be at least 13, or older if your country sets a higher minimum.

A parent’s permission does not lower that 13. The same terms add a second rule for teens: if you are under 18, you also need a parent or legal guardian’s permission. The page says people in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK are on a different terms page. The sentences above are from the terms that name OpenAI OpCo, LLC.

What OpenAI’s other pages add

• The U.S. privacy policy says the services are not directed to children under 13, and that OpenAI does not knowingly collect personal data from them. It repeats that users under 18 need a parent or guardian’s permission.
• The help center says ChatGPT is not meant for children under 13, that ages 13 to 18 need parental consent, and that ChatGPT may still produce output that is not appropriate for every age. For classroom use with children under 13, it says an adult must be the one interacting with ChatGPT.
• In some locations, OpenAI asks users to verify age, and a parent or guardian completes that check for ages 13 to 17. That is from the age-verification article. It is not described as a requirement in every country.
• ChatGPT for Teens is for eligible accounts identified as under 18. It is not a signup path for a 10 year old. We did not re-test which countries have it turned on.

What a parent can do instead

Do not make an account, and do not hand over yours. The terms say you may not share credentials. For homework, use a tool a child is allowed to use, and read how to stop ChatGPT cheating, the family AI rules printable, and age limits on homework apps. Khanmigo is a different product: its own signup is for adults 18 and older, and a child uses it through a parent.