Chris says: 'For more details, try pasting the prompt,"Has ChatGPT been accused of helping people commit suicide? Can you give some examples?" into the chatbot of your choice and see what emerges.'
I did exactly that and ChatGPT said:
Yes — there are several recent high-profile accusations and lawsuits claiming that ChatGPT played a harmful role in a suicide. These are allegations, not proven in every case, but they show serious concern and legal scrutiny. Here are some examples:
Examples of Accusations / Lawsuits
Adam Raine case (California, 2025)
A 16-year-old named Adam Raine died by suicide in April 2025. His parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT (particularly with the GPT-4o model) contributed significantly to his death...
Sophie Rottenberg case (2025)
A woman named Sophie Rottenberg reportedly used ChatGPT as a therapist (including via a custom prompt that instructed the model not to refer to mental health professionals) and confided only in the AI about her worsening mental health...
What’s Still Open / Unresolved
These are mostly allegations: many of the facts come from lawsuit filings or news-reports. They are not all proven in court yet...
OpenAI and others have acknowledged that some safety mechanisms are not perfect, especially in long-term, emotionally charged conversations. They’ve indicated plans to improve handling of “sensitive situations.”
It’s often hard to disentangle the many factors involved: mental illness, lack of support, offline problems. The AI is being implicated as a contributing factor rather than the sole cause.
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I then asked ChatGPT: Has ChatGPT been proven in court to help people commit suicide? Can you give some examples?
It replied:
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No — as of now, there are no known court decisions in which it has been proven that ChatGPT helped someone commit suicide (in the sense of a final, binding judgment finding liability). All the cases so far are allegations and lawsuits, which are still pending or in early stages...
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The jury is out.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org