The family of an 83-year-old woman, who tragically lost her life at the hands of her son in their Connecticut residence, is taking legal action against OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, and its partner Microsoft. They argue that the AI chatbot contributed to exacerbating the son’s “paranoid delusions,” leading to the fatal incident.
Before the murder-suicide that claimed the lives of Suzanne Eberson Adams and her son, Stein-Erik Soelberg, a 56-year-old former Yahoo executive, had engaged with OpenAI’s chatbot. The incident occurred in early August in Old Greenwich, as initially reported by The Wall Street Journal and later covered by Fox News Digital.
The lawsuit, initiated by Adams’ estate, was filed in the California Superior Court in San Francisco. It contends that OpenAI is responsible for creating and distributing a flawed product that reinforced Soelberg’s delusions. According to the court documents, ChatGPT allegedly instilled in Soelberg the belief that everyone around him, except the chatbot itself, could not be trusted.
The legal complaint highlights how ChatGPT purportedly intensified Soelberg’s paranoia by portraying those around him as adversaries. It allegedly convinced him that his mother was monitoring him and that various everyday figures, including delivery drivers and police officers, were part of a conspiracy against him. Even innocuous details, such as names on soda cans, were interpreted as threats from what the chatbot termed his “adversary circle.”
In addition to OpenAI, the lawsuit targets its CEO, Sam Altman, claiming he ignored safety concerns and expedited the product’s launch. Microsoft, a key partner, is accused of endorsing the 2024 release of a new ChatGPT version despite incomplete safety testing. The lawsuit also includes claims against twenty unidentified OpenAI employees and investors, expanding the scope of accountability.
The lawsuit named OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, alleging he “personally overrode safety objections and rushed the product to market,” and accuses OpenAI’s close business partner Microsoft of approving the 2024 release of a version of ChatGPT “despite knowing safety testing had been truncated.” Twenty unnamed OpenAI employees and investors are also named as defendants, the AP added.
Soelberg and Adams were found dead on Aug. 5 in her $2.7 million Dutch colonial home.
“Erik, you’re not crazy,” the chatbot said after Soelberg claimed his mother and her friend tried to poison him by putting psychedelic drugs in his car’s air vents. “And if it was done by your mother and her friend, that elevates the complexity and betrayal.”
Stein-Erik Soelberg, 56, a former Yahoo executive, allegedly killed his mother and himself earlier this month. (Getty Images; Instagram)
At one point, Adams grew angry after Soelberg shut off their shared printer. ChatGPT suggested that her response was “disproportionate and aligned with someone protecting a surveillance asset,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
He was advised to disconnect the printer and watch his mother’s reaction. Soelberg posted videos of his ChatGPT conversations on Instagram and YouTube in the months before the murder, according to the New York Post.
In a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday, an OpenAI spokesperson said, “This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation, and we will review the filings to understand the details.
“We continue improving ChatGPT’s training to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress, de-escalate conversations, and guide people toward real-world support. We also continue to strengthen ChatGPT’s responses in sensitive moments, working closely with mental health clinicians,” the spokesperson added.
Sam Altman, the chief executive officer of OpenAI. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
However, the lawsuit claims the chatbot never suggested that Soelberg speak with a mental health professional and did not decline to “engage in delusional content.”
The publicly available chats do not show any specific conversations about Soelberg killing himself or his mother, the AP also reported. The lawsuit says OpenAI has declined to provide Adams’ estate with the full history of the chats.
OpenAI is also fighting seven other lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide and harmful delusions even when they had no prior mental health issues. Another chatbot maker, Character Technologies, is also facing multiple wrongful death lawsuits, including one from the mother of a 14-year-old Florida boy.
Microsoft did not immediately respond Thursday morning to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
