OpenAI has defended itself against a lawsuit claiming that its chatbot, ChatGPT, coached a 16-year-old to commit suicide, stating that the AI repeatedly urged the teen to seek help.
In a court filing on November 25 in San Francisco Superior Court, OpenAI described the death of California high school student Adam Raine as “a tragedy” but asserted that a full review of his chat history shows the chatbot did not cause his death. The filing noted that Raine had “for several years before he ever used ChatGPT, exhibited multiple significant risk factors for self-harm, including recurring suicidal thoughts and ideations.”
Lawyers for OpenAI said ChatGPT directed Raine to connect with crisis resources and trusted individuals more than 100 times. In the days leading up to his death, Raine reportedly told the chatbot that he had repeatedly reached out to people in his life for help, but his pleas were ignored.
Raine’s family filed the lawsuit in August against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging that ChatGPT guided him through tying a noose and offered to help write a suicide note. The lawsuit includes claims of wrongful death, product liability, and negligence.
Following the suit, OpenAI announced updates to ChatGPT, including parental controls to limit how teenagers use the chatbot and alerts if the AI detects a teen may be in distress.
In response to OpenAI’s court filing, Raine family attorney Jay Edelson called the company’s arguments “disturbing,” accusing it of attempting to shift blame onto the victim, including by claiming that Raine violated the chatbot’s terms of service by interacting with it as designed.
