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Four wrongful death lawsuits were filed against OpenAI on Thursday, as well as cases from three people who say the company’s chatbot led to mental health breakdowns. The cases, filed in California state courts, claim that ChatGPT, which is used by 800 million people, is a flawed product. One suit calls it “defective and inherently dangerous.” A complaint filed by the father of Amaurie Lacey says the 17-year-old from Georgia chatted with the bot about suicide for a month before his death in August. Joshua Enneking, 26, from Florida, asked ChatGPT “what it would take for its reviewers to report his suicide plan to police,” according to a complaint filed by his mother. Zane Shamblin, a 23-year-old from Texas, died by suicide in July after encouragement from ChatGPT, according to the complaint filed by his family. Joe Ceccanti, a 48-year-old from Oregon, had used ChatGPT without problems for years, but he became convinced in April that it was sentient. His wife, Kate Fox, said in an interview in September that he had begun using ChatGPT compulsively and had acted erratically. He had a psychotic break in June, she said, and was hospitalized twice before dying by suicide in August. “The doctors don’t know how to deal with it,” Ms. Fox said. An OpenAI spokeswoman said in a statement that the company was reviewing the filings, which were earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal and CNN. “This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation,” the statement said. “We train ChatGPT to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress, de-escalate conversations, and guide people toward real-world support. We continue to strengthen ChatGPT’s responses in sensitive moments, working closely with mental health clinicians.” Two other plaintiffs — Hannah Madden, 32, from North Carolina, and Jacob Irwin, 30, from Wisconsin — say ChatGPT made them have mental breakdowns that led to emergency psychiatric care. Over the course of three weeks in May, Allan Brooks, 48, a corporate recruiter from Ontario, Canada, who is also suing, came to believe that he had invented a mathematical formula with ChatGPT that could break the internet and power fantastical inventions. He emerged from that delusion but said he is now on short-term disability leave. “Their product caused me harm, and others harm, and continues to do so,” said Mr. Brooks, whom The New York Times wrote about in August. “I’m emotionally traumatized.” Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
