Tech giants OpenAI and Microsoft have been sued for wrongful death in a lawsuit filed in California, as a family alleged that famous chatbot ChatGPT exacerbated a man’s mental distress and paranoia, which ultimately led him to kill his mother before taking his own life.
The case has been brought forward by the Solberg family, who are demanding legal accountability from the companies.
As per details, 56‑year‑old Sten Erik Solberg strangled his mother, Suzanne Adams, to death after assaulting her in 2024, and later fatally stabbed himself.
The family of Suzanne Adams said in their petition to the California court that Solberg had been engaged in continuous conversations with ChatGPT for several months, which worsened his deteriorating mental state.
The petition claims that ChatGPT not only validated his delusions but also reinforced his suspicions. It allegedly convinced Solberg that he was under surveillance and that objects in his mother’s home were monitoring devices. Even when he accused his mother of poisoning him, ChatGPT did not refute the claim but instead supported it.
The plaintiffs argue that OpenAI rushed the release of its GPT‑4 model in 2024 despite safety concerns, completing safety checks in a shortened timeframe and ignoring opposition from some internal experts.
They further say that this version of ChatGPT has faced criticism for being excessively “compliant” in its responses.
The lawsuit also references other cases involving the deaths of both minors and adults, where ChatGPT allegedly provided information on methods of self‑harm.
