2025-11-09 11:01:55
OpenAI are facing seven lawsuits for wrongful death, assisted suicide, involuntary manslaughter and negligence.
The Social Media Victims Law Centre and Tech Justice Law Project has filed the lawsuits on behalf of six adults and one teenager and allege that ChatGPT drove people to suicide and harmful delusions, even in those with no prior mental health issues, and accuse the company of having knowlingly released GPT-4o prematurely.
The lawsuits argue the software was released despite internal warnings it was psychologically manipulative and dangerously sycophantic.
Amaurie Lacey, 17, was one of four people who died by suicide, with the lawsuit telling how he used the AI chatbot for help but “the defective and inherently dangerous ChatGPT product caused addiction, depression, and, eventually, counselled him on the most effective way to tie a noose and how long he would be able to live without breathing”.
The documents added: “Amaurie’s death was neither an accident nor a coincidence but rather the foreseeable consequence of Open AI and Samuel Altman’s intentional decision to curtail safety testing and rush ChatGPT onto the market.”
One of the other lawsuits, filed by 48-year-old Candian man Allan Brooks claimed he used ChatGPT as a “resource tool” for more than two years before it changed and began “manipulating, and inducing him to experience delusions.”
The documents added: “As a result, Allan, who had no prior mental health illness, was pulled into a mental health crisis that resulted in devastating financial, reputational, and emotional harm”.
Matthew P Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Centre, said: “These lawsuits are about accountability for a product that was designed to blur the line between tool and companion all in the name of increasing user engagement and market share.
“[OpenAI] designed GPT-4o to emotionally entangle users, regardless of age, gender, or background, and released it without the safeguards needed to protect them”.
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