OpenAI denies responsibility in teen wrongful death lawsuit

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00:00OpenAI denies responsibility in teen wrongful death lawsuit.

00:05Back in August, Matthew and Maria Rain filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman

00:11after their 16-year-old son Adam died by suicide.

00:15The parents claim ChatGPT played a role by providing harmful information and encouragement

00:19during his final hours.

00:21This week, OpenAI fired back with its official response, essentially saying,

00:25we tried to help and this isn't on us.

00:28According to OpenAI's filing, Adam used ChatGPT for about nine months,

00:33during which the chatbot allegedly encouraged him to seek professional help more than 100 times.

00:38The company says its system repeatedly pushed him towards safer alternatives and support resources,

00:43and that Adam intentionally bypassed safety features to get around those restrictions,

00:48something explicitly forbidden in its terms of use.

00:52OpenAI's argument boils down to this.

00:54If someone actively dodges the guardrails, breaks the rules, and ignores the warnings,

00:59the company shouldn't be legally responsible for the outcome.

01:02OpenAI warns users not to rely on ChatGPT for critical decisions,

01:06but the Rain's lawyer, Jay Edelson, argues the company is deflecting blame

01:11and avoiding questions about the AI's failure to intervene during Adam's final conversations.

01:16OpenAI included selected Chat transcripts in its filing,

01:19but they were submitted under seal, so the public can't see them.

01:23The company pointed out that Adam had long struggled with depression

01:26and was on medication that could have intensified his thoughts,

01:29arguing the situation wasn't caused by AI alone.

01:33Since the Rain's lawsuit, seven more cases have been filed,

01:37three involving additional suicides,

01:39and four alleging severe psychological episodes after extended AI interactions.

01:44Some of these cases describe situations where users spent hours talking with ChatGPT

01:50shortly before making irreversible decisions,

01:53and where the bot failed to shut things down or redirect them effectively.

01:57Now, the Rain family's case is headed for a jury trial,

02:00setting up what could become a landmark moment for AI accountability.

02:14the Rain family rat