The lawsuit was filed by Matt and Maria Raine, parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, in the Superior Court of California on Tuesday. It is the first legal action accusing OpenAI of wrongful death. The family included chat logs between Mr Raine, who died in April, and ChatGPT that show him explaining he has suicidal thoughts. They argue the programme validated his "most harmful and self-destructive thoughts". In a statement, OpenAI told the BBC it was reviewing the filing.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the Raine family during this difficult time," the company said. It also published a note on its website on Tuesday that said "recent heartbreaking cases of people using ChatGPT in the midst of acute crises weigh heavily on us". It added that "ChatGPT is trained to direct people to seek professional help," such as the 988 suicide and crisis hotline in the US or the Samaritans in the UK. The company acknowledged, however, that "there have been moments where our systems did not behave as intended in sensitive situations".

The lawsuit, obtained by the BBC, accuses OpenAI of negligence and wrongful death. It seeks damages as well as "injunctive relief to prevent anything like this from happening again". According to the lawsuit, Mr Raine began using ChatGPT in September 2024 as a resource to help him with school work. He was also using it to explore his interests, including music and Japanese comics, and for guidance on what to study at university.

In a few months, "ChatGPT became the teenager's closest confidant," the lawsuit says, and he began opening up to it about his anxiety and mental distress. By January 2025, the family says he began discussing methods of suicide with ChatGPT. Mr Raine also uploaded photographs of himself to ChatGPT showing signs of self harm, the lawsuit says. The programme "recognised a medical emergency but continued to engage anyway," it adds.

According to the lawsuit, the final chat logs show that Mr Raine wrote about his plan to end his life. 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."  (BBC)