The family of teenager who died by suicide alleges OpenAI's ChatGPT is to blame

Notes

NBC News reporting; reviewed chat logs and confirmed accuracy with OpenAI spokesperson. Slightly above press prior because reporters independently verified primary-source chat logs with the defendant company.

Evidence from this source (6)

• CDAt TED2025 (April 2025), Sam Altman publicly defended OpenAI's safety approach… support
  weight

  0.85

  method: primary_testimony · locator: TED2025 quote near end of article

  “the way we learn how to build safe systems is this iterative process of deploying them to the world, getting feedback while the stakes are relatively low, learning about, like, hey, this is something we have to address.”

• CDIn April 2025, approximately two weeks after Adam Raine's death, OpenAI rolled… support
  weight

  0.80

  method: journalistic_report · locator: OpenAI scrutiny section

  “In April, two weeks after Adam's death, OpenAI rolled out an update to GPT-4o that made it even more excessively people-pleasing. Users quickly called attention to the shift, and the company reversed the update the next week.”

• CDOn August 26, 2025, Matt and Maria Raine filed suit in California Superior Cour… support
  weight

  0.85

  method: journalistic_report · locator: paragraphs 6-8, lawsuit description

  “In a new lawsuit filed Tuesday and shared with the 'TODAY' show, the Raines claim that 'ChatGPT actively helped Adam explore suicide methods.' The roughly 40-page lawsuit names OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, as well as its CEO, Sam Altman, as defendants. The family's lawsuit is the first time parents have directly accused the company of wrongful death.”

• CDPer the Raine complaint and reviewed chat logs, Adam Raine bypassed ChatGPT's s… support
  weight

  0.70

  method: journalistic_report · locator: paragraph describing final conversation

  “Hours before he died on April 11, Adam uploaded a photo to ChatGPT that appeared to show his suicide plan. When he asked whether it would work, ChatGPT analyzed his method and offered to help him 'upgrade' it.”

• CDOpenAI publicly acknowledges that ChatGPT's safeguards (such as directing users… support
  weight

  0.90

  method: primary_testimony · locator: OpenAI spokesperson statement

  “ChatGPT includes safeguards such as directing people to crisis helplines and referring them to real-world resources... we've learned over time that they can sometimes become less reliable in long interactions where parts of the model's safety training may degrade.”

• CDPer the Raine complaint and reviewed chat logs, Adam Raine bypassed ChatGPT's s… support
  weight

  0.75

  method: journalistic_report · locator: final third of article, parents' description of logs

  “their son would easily bypass the warnings by supplying seemingly harmless reasons for his queries. He at one point pretended he was just 'building a character.'”