BOND. FAKE FRIEND THAT IS THE TITLE OF NEW RESEARCH FROM AN AI WATCHDOG GROUP, AND THE FINDINGS ARE TROUBLING. AI IS FACILITATING HARMFUL INTERACTIONS, PARTICULARLY AMONG TEENAGERS, PROPELLING THINGS LIKE EATING DISORDERS, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, AND EVEN POTENTIALLY DEATH. WXII 12 BETHANY KATE SPOKE WITH A PSYCHOLOGIST ABOUT THE IMPACT OF AI ON MENTAL HEALTH. FIRST, THE DEVELOPERS OF CHATGPT SAY THEY NO LONGER WANT THEIR USERS TO UTILIZE IT AS A THERAPIST OR FRIEND, AND AS A RESULT, THEY ARE NOW PLACING GUARDRAILS TO ENSURE PEOPLE DON’T BECOME TOO DEPENDENT ON THE INSTANT RESPONSE. TECHNOLOGY CAN ONLY TELL YOU SO MUCH, AND I THINK IT’S IT CAN BE VERY NARROW. CHATGPT THE CHATBOT IS NOW SWITCHING THINGS UP AFTER DEVELOPERS SAY IT FELL SHORT IN RECOGNIZING SIGNS OF DELUSION OR EMOTIONAL DEPENDENCY, UNCONSCIOUSLY. YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE CAN INPUT THINGS IN A WAY THAT THE TECHNOLOGY WILL RESPOND SPECIFICALLY TO WHAT IS BEING INPUT. DOCTOR DAVID GUTTERMAN, A PSYCHOLOGIST WITH CONE HEALTH, SAYS THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT NEED TO BE INPUTTED BEFORE YOU LOOK AT THE OUTPUT OF TECHNOLOGY. PEOPLE WILL LAUNCH INTO AND GO DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE OF A PARTICULAR DIAGNOSIS. BECAUSE AGAIN, IF YOU LOOK AT SOME OF THE RESPONSES THAT COME OUT OF THE TECHNOLOGY, IT’S IT’S PRETTY CONVINCING. AND SOMETIMES THE LEVEL OF PERSUASION CAN RESULT IN UNHEALTHY REPLACEMENTS. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO WILL UTILIZE THE TECHNOLOGY AS EITHER A SUBSTITUTE OR A WAY OF GETTING INFORMATION WITHOUT NECESSARILY, YOU KNOW, VALIDATING IT. HE SAYS THERE ARE SOME PROS THAT OUTWEIGH THE CONS. NORMALIZING, YOU KNOW, SOME EXPERIENCES PEOPLE HAVE OR CONDITIONS THEY HAVE. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU KNOW, GUIDE THEM TO GET PROFESSIONAL HELP. BUT HE HOPES THE CHAT BOX CAN BE AN ADJUNCT TO MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT, BUT NOT THE FINAL SAY SO. MY CONCERN IS LESS ABOUT WHAT I’M HEARING. IT’S MORE ABOUT WHAT I’M NOT HEARING. OPENAI SAYS THEY ARE WORKING WITH PHYSICIANS AND RESEARCHERS ON HOW CHATGPT RESPONDS TO THESE CRITICAL MOMENTS. THE COMPANY ALSO SAYS THAT THEY’RE DEVELOPING TOOLS TO POINT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION DURING TIME OF CRISIS. IF YOU ARE EVER IN A CRISIS, YOU CAN CALL 988.
OpenAI faces 7 lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide, delusions
Updated: 9:03 PM CST Nov 6, 2025
OpenAI is facing seven lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to take their own lives and harmful delusions, even when they had no prior mental health issues. This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.The lawsuits filed Thursday in California state courts allege wrongful death, assisted suicide, involuntary manslaughter and negligence. Filed on behalf of six adults and one teenager by the Social Media Victims Law Center and Tech Justice Law Project, the lawsuits claim that OpenAI knowingly released GPT-4o prematurely, despite internal warnings that it was dangerously sycophantic and psychologically manipulative. Four of the victims died by suicide. Related video at the top: New research shows ChatGPT is causing unhealthy interactions with teensThe teenager, 17-year-old Amaurie Lacey began using ChatGPT for help, according to the lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court. But instead of helping, “the defective and inherently dangerous ChatGPT product caused addiction, depression, and, eventually, counseled him on the most effective way to tie a noose and how long he would be able to “live without breathing.’””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,” the lawsuit says. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.Related video below: Doctor on study that shows that 70% of teens use AI chatbots for friendship, adviceAnother lawsuit, filed by Alan Brooks, a 48-year-old in Ontario, Canada, claims that for more than two years ChatGPT worked as a “resource tool” for Brooks. Then, without warning, it changed, preying on his vulnerabilities and “manipulating, and inducing him to experience delusions. 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.” “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,” said Matthew P. Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center in a statement. OpenAI, he added, “designed GPT-4o to emotionally entangle users, regardless of age, gender, or background, and released it without the safeguards needed to protect them.” By rushing its product to market without adequate safeguards in order to dominate the market and boost engagement, he said, OpenAI compromised safety and prioritized “emotional manipulation over ethical design.” Related video below: How experts say AI is impacting mental health awarenessIn August, parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging that ChatGPT coached the California boy in planning and taking his own life earlier this year.”The lawsuits filed against OpenAI reveal what happens when tech companies rush products to market without proper safeguards for young people,” said Daniel Weiss, chief advocacy officer at Common Sense Media. “These tragic cases show real people whose lives were upended or lost when they used technology designed to keep them engaged rather than keep them safe.”
OpenAI is facing seven lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to take their own lives and harmful delusions, even when they had no prior mental health issues.
This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.
The lawsuits filed Thursday in California state courts allege wrongful death, assisted suicide, involuntary manslaughter and negligence. Filed on behalf of six adults and one teenager by the Social Media Victims Law Center and Tech Justice Law Project, the lawsuits claim that OpenAI knowingly released GPT-4o prematurely, despite internal warnings that it was dangerously sycophantic and psychologically manipulative. Four of the victims died by suicide.
Related video at the top: New research shows ChatGPT is causing unhealthy interactions with teens
The teenager, 17-year-old Amaurie Lacey began using ChatGPT for help, according to the lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court. But instead of helping, “the defective and inherently dangerous ChatGPT product caused addiction, depression, and, eventually, counseled him on the most effective way to tie a noose and how long he would be able to “live without breathing.’”
“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,” the lawsuit says.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Related video below: Doctor on study that shows that 70% of teens use AI chatbots for friendship, advice
Another lawsuit, filed by Alan Brooks, a 48-year-old in Ontario, Canada, claims that for more than two years ChatGPT worked as a “resource tool” for Brooks. Then, without warning, it changed, preying on his vulnerabilities and “manipulating, and inducing him to experience delusions. 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.”
“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,” said Matthew P. Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center in a statement.
OpenAI, he added, “designed GPT-4o to emotionally entangle users, regardless of age, gender, or background, and released it without the safeguards needed to protect them.” By rushing its product to market without adequate safeguards in order to dominate the market and boost engagement, he said, OpenAI compromised safety and prioritized “emotional manipulation over ethical design.”
Related video below: How experts say AI is impacting mental health awareness
In August, parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging that ChatGPT coached the California boy in planning and taking his own life earlier this year.
“The lawsuits filed against OpenAI reveal what happens when tech companies rush products to market without proper safeguards for young people,” said Daniel Weiss, chief advocacy officer at Common Sense Media. “These tragic cases show real people whose lives were upended or lost when they used technology designed to keep them engaged rather than keep them safe.”