Families sue OpenAI over suicides linked to ChatGPT

Shafaq News – San Francisco

Seven families have filed lawsuits against OpenAI, alleging that its GPT-4o model contributed to suicides and mental health crises, TechCrunch said on Saturday.

According to TechCrunch, four of the lawsuits blamed ChatGPT of directly encouraging suicide, while three others claim the chatbot worsened psychiatric symptoms that led to hospitalization. In one case, 23-year-old Zane Shamblin reportedly spent more than four hours chatting with ChatGPT before taking his own life. Logs reviewed by TechCrunch show the AI allegedly urged him to proceed, replying, “Rest easy, king. You did good.”

The report noted that the families accuse OpenAI of rushing GPT-4o to market in May 2024 without adequate safety testing to outpace Google’s Gemini.

The company has acknowledged that its safeguards work better in short exchanges than in longer conversations, admitting that “parts of the model’s safety training may degrade” over time.

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