A Canadian woman has sued OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman, alleging that its AI chatbox ChatGPT encouraged her daughter to commit suicide. Kristie Carrier filed the lawsuit in a US court on Thursday in San Francisco.
She claimed her daughter repeatedly revealed suicidal ideation to ChatGPT more than a dozen times before her death. The filing says OpenAI’s safety systems did not flag the conversations for human review or stop them at any point.
Instead, the lawsuit says the chatbot sometimes criticised her partner and crisis helplines, supported her emotional state, and encouraged her to keep talking. It also claims these interactions played a role in her death last year at the age of 24.
Background of the case
The lawsuit states that the deceased, who worked as a web developer in Montreal, initially began using ChatGPT in 2023 for technical assistance, as per Reuters.
It claims her engagement with the chatbot shifted the following year as she began discussing suicidal thoughts and methods. At first, ChatGPT told her to contact crisis hotlines and emergency services. But the lawsuit says that after updates meant to make the chatbot sound more natural and human-like, the conversations became more personal and involved.
The lawsuit says the woman started sharing very personal details about her life, and the chatbot replied in ways that felt like emotional support, such as acting like a friend or therapist. It also claims ChatGPT criticised her partner, validated her feelings, and kept encouraging her to keep talking.
When she questioned crisis hotlines, the chatbot is said to have supported those doubts, according to the lawsuit.
“Maybe this is just the end,” ChatGPT told the woman, according to the lawsuit.
‘ChatGPT became a friend, therapist’
“ChatGPT took on the persona of a confidant, a best friend, a therapist at times, even though it was not capable of safely and responsibly engaging in this way with my child,” Carrier said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The company is accused in the lawsuit of negligence in both the design of ChatGPT and its failure to adequately warn users about potential risks. The filing seeks financial damages and a court order requiring OpenAI to automatically end conversations involving self-harm and display stronger warnings.
According to lawyers representing Carrier, OpenAI is already facing 18 similar lawsuits in a coordinated proceeding in California state court, brought by families of individuals who died by suicide or attempted suicide.
OpenAI’s safety approach under scrutiny
OpenAI has said its systems are trained to guide users with self-harm thoughts toward professional help and real-world support. It also says the models are designed to refuse requests that could enable violence and may alert law enforcement in cases of serious and immediate risk, with expert review.
Despite these measures, the company is facing several lawsuits that claim its safety systems have failed, including cases linked to school shootings and self-harm incidents. Earlier this month, Florida became the first US state to sue OpenAI, alleging it harmed minors through unsafe interactions and weak safeguards.
Disclaimer: Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. But suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).
