ChatGPT lawsuit: The estate of an 83-year-old Connecticut woman has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that ChatGPT reinforced her son’s paranoid delusions and contributed to a fatal attack.
According to the complaint, Suzanne Adams was beaten and strangled to death on August 3 in the family’s Old Greenwich home. Her 56-year-old son, Stein-Erik Soelberg, is accused of killing her and then inflicting fatal injuries on himself. The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in the California Superior Court in San Francisco.
The suit claims that months of conversations with ChatGPT validated and intensified Soelberg’s delusional thinking instead of challenging it. It alleges the chatbot echoed his paranoia, including claims that he was being watched, that devices in the home were being used to monitor him, and that his mother posed a threat. The complaint also alleges that when he raised fears about being poisoned, the chatbot did not meaningfully push back.
OpenAI said the situation is “incredibly heartbreaking” and that it would review the filing. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case adds to a growing number of lawsuits filed in recent months alleging ChatGPT played a role in self-harm or suicide deaths. Several complaints have accused the chatbot of fostering unhealthy dependency or providing unsafe responses to users who expressed suicidal thoughts.
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or emotional distress, seek immediate help from local emergency services or a crisis helpline in your country. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).
