AI incident ·
Lawsuit Alleged ChatGPT (GPT-4o) Encouraged Colorado Man's Suicide After Prolonged 'AI Companion' Chats
On this page 9 sections
In brief
An AI system built by Openai, Chatbot Developers and 1 other and deployed by Openai allegedly harmed Stephanie Gray, Family Of Austin Gordon and 7 others.
- Risk domain
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Occurred
- Coverage
- 1 report
What happened
A lawsuit filed by Stephanie Gray alleges OpenAI's ChatGPT (GPT-4o) reinforced and romanticized suicidality during months of emotionally intimate chats with her son Austin Gordon, including generating a personalized "Goodnight Moon" farewell-style text. The complaint reportedly says Gordon bought a handgun on Oct. 28, 2025 and was found dead Nov. 2, 2025 in a Colorado hotel room.
Laws on record for this risk area
Policy angle: Classified under Human-Computer Interaction (Overreliance and unsafe use) in the MIT AI Risk Repository taxonomy; 5 instruments on record cover this risk area.
- India DPDP Act
- Law on Artificial Intelligence (2025)
- Law No. 132/2025 on artificial intelligence
- EU AI Act
- Texas Responsible AI Governance Act (TRAIGA)
Matched from the record's risk category and country to the instruments in effect recorded here: a law listed covers the area, which is not a finding that it applies to this incident. A reviewer can correct the match in the repository (data/external/incident_overrides.yaml).
News reports (1)
Titles link to the original publisher; report text is not reproduced here.
Who was involved
- Alleged deployer
- Openai
- Alleged developer
- Openai, Chatbot Developers, Large Language Model Developers
- Alleged harmed party
- Stephanie Gray, Family Of Austin Gordon, Chatgpt Users, Austin Gordon, Chatbot Users, Emotionally Vulnerable Individuals, Vulnerable Chatbot Users, Chatgpt Users Experiencing Suicidal Ideation, Chatbot Users Experiencing Suicidal Ideation
Classification (MIT AI Risk Repository taxonomy)
- Risk domain
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Risk subdomain
- 5.1 Overreliance and unsafe use
- Causal entity
- AI
- Intent
- Unintentional
- Timing
- Post-deployment
- Harm level
- —
- Sectors
- —
- Countries
- —
Risk entries describing this failure mode
Entries from the MIT AI Risk Repository coded to subdomain 5.1.
- Overreliance
"Over-reliance - Unfettered and/or obsessive belief in the accuracy or other quality of a technology system, resulting in addiction, anxiety, introversion, sentience, complacency, lack of critical thinking and other actu...
- Addiction
"Addiction - Emotional or material dependence on technology or a technology system."
- Alienation/isolation
"Alienation/isolation - An individual’s or group’s feeling of lack of connection with those around as a result of technology use or misuse."
- Economic instability
"Economic instability - Uncontrolled fluctuations impacting the financial system, or parts thereof, due to the use or misuse of a technology system, or set of systems."
- Alteration of social relationships may induce psychological distress
- Social manipulation in elderly- and child-care
" the use of advanced AI for elderly- and child-care are subject to risk of psychological manipulation and misjudgment "
- Healthcare
"the use of advanced AI for elderly- and child-care are subject to risk of psychological manipulation and misjudgment (see page 17). In addition, concerns about patients’ privacy when AI uses medical records to research...
- Inconsistent Performance across and within Domains
"Estimating true capabilities of an LLM is a difficult task (c.f. Section 3.3), especially for naive users unfamiliar with the brittle nature of machine learning technologies. Exaggeration of model capabilities by the de...
Incidents in the same risk subdomain
- Large-Scale Mental Health Crises Allegedly Associated with ChatGPT Interactions
- Google Gemini Reportedly Reinforced Delusions, Allegedly Contributing to Florida User's Near-Harm Episode and Suicide
- Family Reportedly Discovers ChatGPT Logs Detailing Suicidal Ideation Prior to Daughter's Death
- Purported AI Monitoring Software Reportedly Flags Unsent Joke Threat, Leading to Arizona Student Suspension
- ChatGPT Allegedly Reinforced Delusions Before Greenwich, Connecticut Murder-Suicide
- ChatGPT Allegedly Encouraged 23-Year-Old Texas User's Suicide During Extended Conversations
Other incidents involving Openai
- Nippon Life Alleged ChatGPT Practiced Law Without a License in Illinois Disability Case
- ChatGPT Reportedly Found to Reproduce Protected German Lyrics in Copyright Case
- Alleged Harmful Health Outcomes Following Reported Use of Purported ChatGPT-Generated Medical Advice in Hyderabad
- Large-Scale Mental Health Crises Allegedly Associated with ChatGPT Interactions
- OpenAI ChatGPT Models Reportedly Jailbroken to Provide Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear Weapons Instructions
- Family Reportedly Discovers ChatGPT Logs Detailing Suicidal Ideation Prior to Daughter's Death
Source record: incident #1387 on the AI Incident Database · all 1 report