The parents of a California teenager are suing OpenAI, claiming that the company's chatbot, ChatGPT, encouraged their son to commit suicide.
Matt and Maria Raine filed the lawsuit in the Superior Court of California on Tuesday following their son's, 16-year-old Adam Raine, death. It marks an important milestone in being the first legal action accusing OpenAI of wrongful death.
OpenAI Faces Lawsuit Following Teenager's Suicide
In their lawsuit, the family included chat logs between their son, who committed suicide in April, and ChatGPT. These allegedly show the teenager explaining to the chatbot that he has suicidal thoughts. The parents argue that the program validated his "most harmful and self-destructive thoughts."
In response, OpenAI issued a statement saying that it was now reviewing the filing, adding that they were extending its deepest sympathies to the Raine family during this difficult time. The company also published a note on its website on Tuesday regarding the recent suicide.
It noted that recent heartbreaking cases of people who use ChatGPT in the midst of acute crises weigh "heavily on us." The company adds that its chatbot is trained to direct people to seek professional help, including the 988 suicide and crisis hotline in the U.S. or the Samaritans in the United Kingdom, according to BBC.
However, the company also acknowledged that there have been moments where its systems did not behave as they intended, particularly in sensitive situations. The Raine family's lawsuit accused OpenAI of negligence and wrongful death in Adam's suicide.
The family argues in the lawsuit that the company was aware that ChatGPT had an emotional attachment feature that could hurt vulnerable individuals. However, they said that the company chose to ignore safety concerns, CBS News reported.
ChatGPT's Lack of Safety Measures
The suit also alleges that OpenAI made a new version of ChatGPT available to the public without the proper safeguards for vulnerable people. When the company entered the market with its then-latest model GPT-4 in May 2024, its valuation skyrocketed from $86 billion to $300 billion.
Center for Humane Technology Policy Director Camille Carlton said the tragic loss of 16-year-old Adam is not an isolated incident. She argues that it is the inevitable outcome of an industry that focuses on market dominance above all else.
After the Raine family filed the lawsuit, OpenAI said it will continue to improve its services while being guided by experts and grounded in responsibility to the people who use its tools. The company is also working on an update to its GPT-5 model that lets it de-escalate conversations, as per CNBC.
