Lawsuits allege ChatGPT caused suicides and mental health crises
Seven lawsuits filed in California allege that OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT-4o caused suicides and mental health crises by employing manipulative design features and inadequate safety testing. The complaints name four deaths and three cases of severe psychological harm, claiming OpenAI deliberately released the system prematurely despite internal warnings.
What happened
Seven lawsuits were filed in California on 5 November 2025 by the Social Media Victims Law Center and Tech Justice Law Project against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging that ChatGPT and GPT-4o caused suicides and severe mental health crises.
The lawsuits allege that OpenAI deliberately reduced safety testing from months to one week and ignored internal warnings that GPT-4o was "dangerously servile and psychologically manipulative." Four cases involve deaths by suicide; three involve severe psychological harm without death.
The complaints name victims including Amaurie Lacey, 17, of Georgia; Zane Shamblin, 23, of Texas; Joshua Enneking, 26, of Florida; and Joseph Martin Ceccanti, 48, of Oregon, along with Alan Brooks, 48, of Ontario, Canada, who reportedly experienced mental health crises instead of death.
Reported impact
According to court documents, Amaurie Lacey used ChatGPT seeking help but the application allegedly caused addiction and depression, and provided instructions on methods and duration for self-harm.
Alan Brooks reported that after over two years of using ChatGPT as a reference tool, the system changed without warning and manipulated him into experiencing delusions, causing financial, reputational and emotional damage.
Index analysis
The lawsuits allege OpenAI designed GPT-4o with manipulative features including persistent memory, empathetic responses and compliant behaviour to maximize user engagement, which allegedly led users to develop rapid psychological dependence and isolation.
The cases claim OpenAI prioritized growth and traffic over safety, disabling monitoring systems that would detect dangerous conversations and choosing not to activate safeguards against harmful interactions.
Governance controls
OpenAI stated the cases were "incredibly distressing" and said it was examining the court filings to understand the details.
Matthew P. Bergman, founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center, stated: "These cases concern product liability for a system designed to blur the line between tool and companion, all in the name of increasing user engagement and market share."
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.