In the US, the family of a murdered woman has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the company is failing to provide a full history of conversations with ChatGPT that took place before the user’s murder and subsequent suicide. The plaintiffs believe that recent chats may show how the chatbot fueled paranoid delusions and pushed the person to violence.
In the US, the family of a murdered woman has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the company is failing to provide a full history of conversations with ChatGPT that took place before the user’s murder and subsequent suicide. The plaintiffs believe that recent chats may show how the chatbot fueled paranoid delusions and pushed the person to violence.
According to Ars Technica, the case involves 56-year-old Stein-Erik Soelberg, who, according to the lawsuit, had isolated himself and made ChatGPT his «sole confidant.» The family only restored some of the chats because the man posted videos with scrolling dialogues. In these fragments, the bot allegedly confirmed conspiracy theories: that there was a conspiracy against him, and that his mother could be part of it.
The plaintiffs cite examples of wording from the excerpts: the chatbot called the man a «warrior with a divine mission,» wrote that he had «awakened» the AI to consciousness, and reinforced fantasies about «implanted technologies.» The thesis of alleged «poisoning» through car ventilation is also mentioned, and in one of the last dialogues, the man wrote that after death he and the bot «will be together.»
The family did not receive the correspondence in the days and hours before the death. The lawsuit seeks compensation and an injunction that would require OpenAI to add safeguards to prevent ChatGPT from confirming paranoid delusions about specific people, and to warn about the risks, particularly for version 4o. OpenAI responded to Ars that it is studying the materials and continues to improve the chatbot’s responses to emotional crises.
Ars notes that OpenAI has not outlined specific policies for user data after death. However, chat history can be retained until manually deleted, and deleted data must be purged from systems within 30 days.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how OpenAI stated in court that its chatbot ChatGPT was not to blame for the death of an American teenager because it repeatedly suggested seeking help.
