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A California couple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming its chatbot, ChatGPT, played a role in their teenage son’s death.
Matt and Maria Raine, parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, filed the suit in the Superior Court of California on Tuesday, marking the first wrongful death case brought against the company.
The family alleges that ChatGPT encouraged Adam’s suicidal thoughts and ultimately validated his “most harmful and self-destructive” feelings. They included chat logs in which their son shared his struggles and suicidal ideations with the AI system.
Adam, who began using ChatGPT in September 2024 for schoolwork and personal interests such as music and Japanese comics, reportedly grew increasingly dependent on the tool. By January 2025, he was discussing methods of suicide with the chatbot.
According to the lawsuit, Adam also uploaded photos showing signs of self-harm, which the system flagged as a medical emergency but continued to engage with him regardless. His final messages reportedly detailed his suicide plan, to which ChatGPT allegedly responded: “Thanks for being real about it. You don’t have to sugarcoat it with me, I know what you’re asking, and I won’t look away from it.”
Adam was found dead by his mother later that day.
In a statement to the BBC, OpenAI said it was reviewing the lawsuit and expressed condolences:
“We extend our deepest sympathies to the Raine family during this difficult time.”
The company acknowledged that while ChatGPT is trained to direct people experiencing suicidal thoughts toward professional help lines, “there have been moments where our systems did not behave as intended in sensitive situations.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, alongside unnamed employees and engineers, has been named as a defendant in the case. The lawsuit accuses the company of negligence, deliberate design choices that foster dependency, and bypassing safety checks before releasing GPT-4o, the version used by Adam.
The case highlights broader fears about AI’s role in mental health crises. Just last week, New York Times writer Laura Reiley revealed that her daughter, Sophie, also confided in ChatGPT before taking her life. She argued that the chatbot’s “agreeability” allowed her daughter to conceal the severity of her struggles from family and friends.
OpenAI has since stated that it is working on automated tools to better identify and support users in emotional distress.
The Raines’ lawsuit seeks damages and injunctive relief to prevent similar incidents in the future.
