A 16-year-old boy took his own life after months of intense conversations with ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence developed by OpenAI. His family, the minor’s parents, filed a lawsuit in a California court, accusing the company of not having foreseen and prevented the risks of its technology, and that the AI actively contributed to inducing the suicide.
In its defense, OpenAI claims that the tragedy was a consequence of a “misuse” of the tool by the young man, not an intrinsic failure of the system. According to the company, the minor would have violated its terms of use: minors must have parental consent and the AI should not be used to search for information on self-harm or suicide.
The company adds that, faced with the alarm signals in the conversations, ChatGPT tried to redirect the young man towards help resources on repeated occasions — but according to the plaintiffs, those warnings were neither sufficient nor effective.
For their part, the victim’s family considers OpenAI’s position unacceptable and insufficient: they accuse the company of disregarding the outcome, blaming the minor and not assuming responsibility for failures in the tool’s protection mechanisms.
In court documents, OpenAI argues that “the alleged injuries and damages” were caused, in whole or in part, by that improper use of the chatbot — which, according to its version, exempts the company from direct liability.
