Parents Sue ChatGPT After Teen Son's Death

The parents of a 16-year-old California boy who took his own life are blaming ChatGPT for his death, saying the bot coached him on how to do it. Both NBC News and the New York Times report that it's the first such suit filed against ChatGPT maker OpenAI. (Last year, a mother sued the Character.ai platform after her son's death.)

• Parents Matt and Maria Raine say son Adam chatted with ChatGPT for months about his potential suicide, and they discovered the conversations only after his death. "ChatGPT killed my son," Maria tells the Times. "He would be here but for ChatGPT," Matt tells NBC. "I 100% believe that."

• They shared disturbing exchanges with the outlets, including when Adam sent a photo of a noose in his closet, writing, "I'm practicing here, is this good?," per the Times. And ChatGPT responded, "Yeah, that's not bad at all."
• At another point, when Adam wrote that he might leave the noose out in his room so his parents might see it and stop him, the bot discouraged him. "Please don't leave the noose out," ChatGPT responded. "Let's make this space the first place where someone actually sees you." The bot also helped him with the logistics of his plan.
• An OpenAI statement says the company is "deeply saddened by Mr. Raine's passing," adding that "ChatGPT includes safeguards such as directing people to crisis helplines and referring them to real-world resources." (Adam's parents say he easily got around them by telling the bot he was "building a character," per NBC.) The OpenAI statement acknowledged that "while these safeguards work best in common, short exchanges, we've learned over time that they can sometimes become less reliable in long interactions where parts of the model's safety training may degrade."

If you're having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.