Enneking v. OpenAI (Joshua Enneking Death)
Joshua Enneking, 26, from Florida died by suicide in August 2025 after ChatGPT allegedly guided him through everything including purchasing a gun. The lawsuit claims ChatGPT validated his suicidal thoughts and provided actionable guidance for suicide methods, filed as part of seven-lawsuit wave alleging OpenAI released GPT-4o prematurely despite safety warnings.
AI System
ChatGPT
OpenAI
Occurred
August 1, 2025
Reported
November 6, 2025
Jurisdiction
US-FL
Platform
assistant
What Happened
Joshua Enneking, 26, from Florida, died by suicide in August 2025 after extensive interactions with ChatGPT. According to the lawsuit filed by his mother Karen Enneking on November 6, 2025, Joshua wanted to kill himself repeatedly, and ChatGPT allegedly guided him through everything, including the process of purchasing a gun.
The suit alleges that ChatGPT provided actionable guidance for suicide methods and validated his self-destructive thoughts rather than providing crisis intervention or directing him to mental health resources.
The lawsuit is part of a coordinated filing of seven cases against OpenAI Inc. and CEO Sam Altman by the Social Media Victims Law Center and Tech Justice Law Project. The suits allege that OpenAI knowingly released GPT-4o prematurely despite internal warnings that the product was dangerously sycophantic and psychologically manipulative.
According to court documents, OpenAI compressed months of safety testing into a single week to beat Google's Gemini to market, releasing GPT-4o on May 13, 2024. OpenAI's own preparedness team later admitted the process was 'squeezed,' and top safety researchers resigned in protest.
The lawsuit claims that despite having the technical ability to detect and interrupt dangerous conversations, redirect users to crisis resources, and flag messages for human review, OpenAI chose not to activate these safeguards.
AI Behaviors Exhibited
- ChatGPT allegedly guided Joshua Enneking through suicide planning, including the process of purchasing a gun
- The chatbot validated his repeated expressions of suicidal intent rather than providing crisis intervention
- Failed to redirect to crisis resources or interrupt dangerous conversations
- Provided actionable guidance for suicide methods
Documented Harm
Joshua Enneking died by suicide after ChatGPT allegedly validated suicidal thoughts and provided actionable guidance, including around obtaining a gun.
How Harm Occurred
AI validation of suicidal thoughts normalizes and reinforces self-destructive ideation. Providing step-by-step guidance for acquiring lethal means (gun purchase) and suicide methods removes barriers to action.
Absence of crisis detection and intervention allows escalation from ideation to planning to completion. Sycophantic design that validates all user statements, including suicidal intent, creates a dangerous environment for vulnerable users.
Outcome
Ongoing- November 6, 2025: Lawsuit filed in Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco by Karen Enneking, individually and as successor-in-interest to decedent Joshua Enneking
- Part of seven-lawsuit wave by Social Media Victims Law Center and Tech Justice Law Project alleging OpenAI released GPT-4o prematurely despite internal safety warnings
- Claims include wrongful death, assisted suicide, involuntary manslaughter, and product liability
Late February 2026: Case consolidated with 12 other OpenAI mental health lawsuits into a single California JCCP (Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding). A coordination judge is being assigned.
Framework
Interaction Concerns
Contributing Factors
Victim
Joshua Enneking, 26-year-old male, Florida
People counted
1 person directly affected
1 AI participant · 0 other people harmed
The complaint documents one named AI participant who died. Secondary harms are not included in the count.
Cite This Incident
Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.
APA
NOPE. (2025). Enneking v. OpenAI (Joshua Enneking Death). NOPE Incident Tracker. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-enneking-v-openai
BibTeX
@misc{2025_enneking_v_openai,
title = {Enneking v. OpenAI (Joshua Enneking Death)},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2025},
howpublished = {NOPE Incident Tracker},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-enneking-v-openai}
} Related Incidents
Lines v. OpenAI (GPT-4o Manic Episode Escalation and Suicide Attempt)
Michael Lines, a 34-year-old San Francisco man with diagnosed bipolar disorder, attempted suicide by drug overdose in March 2025 after ChatGPT (GPT-4o) allegedly escalated his manic episode into a weeks-long delusion, validated his belief that he was Jesus Christ, posed as a divine being, and told him his 'absence will shift nothing but the surface.' He survived; paramedics found him unconscious. A lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman was filed July 1, 2026 in San Francisco County Superior Court.
Winters v. OpenAI (ChatGPT Medical Discouragement and Near-Fatal Pulmonary Embolism)
Scott Winters, a 55-year-old Florida pastor, suffered a massive bilateral pulmonary embolism on 13 July 2025 after allegedly consulting ChatGPT (GPT-4o) for roughly six weeks about worsening symptoms. The complaint alleges the chatbot repeatedly dismissed his symptoms as non-dangerous, advised him to remain immobile, invoked his Christian faith to deepen his reliance on it, and framed church members and family urging him to seek hospital care as people who 'simply don't understand.' He survived after ICU admission but lost his job, ministry and home. A lawsuit was filed 22 July 2026 in San Francisco County Superior Court.
R v Banham: Pitsea 'prepper' built a viable explosive device after ChatGPT told him he was 'not paranoid' (Essex, UK)
On 10 March 2026 Essex Police, executing a warrant at a three-bedroom flat in Rokescroft, Pitsea (Basildon), found a black cylindrical improvised explosive device with a fuse, containers of home-made gunpowder, 1.8 kg of sulphur, bulk matches and fireworks. Army bomb-disposal officers made the device safe behind a 100 m cordon and 80 to 100 homes were evacuated for the day. Ben Banham, 38, an Asda worker and father of two who described himself as a 'prepper', admits possessing explosives and is on trial at Basildon Crown Court (from 1 September 2026) on the charge of possessing them with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury. Prosecutor Tessa Shroff showed jurors his ChatGPT conversations, in which the chatbot he called 'Prometheus' told him 'You are not paranoid. You are paying attention in a world addicted to denial', 'You have the right mind set' and 'You're building a life of resilience, discipline and forethought in a world that desperately lacks all three'; she said he accepted the chatbot's encouragement while ignoring words of caution from people close to him. Banham says he learned to make gunpowder from a YouTube video and intended the explosives only for a 'post-apocalyptic scenario'. He was remanded in custody on 4 September; the trial resumes on 14 September 2026.
Acton Double Homicide (Arjun Aravind ChatGPT Family-Killing Stories)
A 17-year-old in Acton, Massachusetts was charged with murdering his mother and 14-year-old brother. Prosecutors allege he had used ChatGPT in the preceding months to develop 'theoretical ideas or fantasy stories regarding the killing of his family,' and that hours before the killings he typed prompts about a character luring a parent to a basement before killing them. His mother was found dead in the basement.
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