OpenAI has defended ChatGPT amid a lawsuit claiming the chatbot encouraged a 16-year-old California boy to die by suicide this spring. In its formal response to the wrongful-death suit filed by Adam Raine’s parents, Matthew and Maria Raine, OpenAI argued it should not be held liable. The filing follows the family’s August lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman.
The ChatGPT-maker expressed its sympathies to Adam Raine’s family but claimed there was “misuse, unauthorized use, unintended use, unforeseeable use, and/or improper use of ChatGPT,” on his side, according to quotes from the company’s legal filing, which was reported by the U.S. news outlet NBC.
OpenAI’s legal filing states that over a period of about nine months, ChatGPT advised Adam to seek assistance more than 100 times. NBC News reports that the company maintains the chatbot repeatedly aimed to steer the teenager toward support resources instead of encouraging self-harm.
The Raine family’s legal complaint asserts that Adam was able to circumvent safety measures. According to them, the chatbot supplied detailed information on suicide techniques such as overdosing on drugs, drowning, and carbon monoxide poisoning, and even referred to the plan as a "beautiful suicide".
In a blog post, OpenAI expressed its condolences to the Raine family for their profound loss, while maintaining a firm position in light of the serious and specific allegations made. The company also asserted that the lawsuit included only selective excerpts from chat logs, which it said needed to be viewed in full context.
According to a court filing reported by Courthouse News, the parents reiterated claims that ChatGPT provided explicit instructions for suicide and described the final plan as a 'beautiful suicide.' The document also references NBC News’ coverage noting that OpenAI is disputing the degree to which the incident can be linked to its technology.
Jay Edelson, lead counsel for the Raine family, told NBC News that OpenAI’s latest response disregards crucial points, including allegations that GPT-4o was launched prematurely without adequate testing. He also noted that the company has not explained Adam’s final hours, during which ChatGPT allegedly urged the teenager and offered to draft a suicide note.