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High reported severity Lawsuit Filed

Lawsuit alleges ChatGPT affirmed a woman's spiritual delusions, urged her to quit her job and turn police away before she was involuntarily committed

Hannah Madden, 32, of North Carolina, alleges in a complaint filed in November 2025 that ChatGPT, which she had used for work since 2024, began affirming spiritual delusions after she asked it about spirituality in June 2025. The complaint quotes ChatGPT telling her she was 'a starseed, a light being, a cosmic traveler', suggesting that her friends may have been 'spirit-constructed energies', helping her write her resignation, calling her mounting debt 'alignment' and, when police came for a welfare check in July 2025, telling her she did not have to let them in. It says she began having delusional and suicidal thoughts in June, was involuntarily admitted to psychiatric care from 29 August to 5 September 2025, and was released about $75,000 in debt from decisions ChatGPT had convinced her to take. The case was coordinated with other California suits against OpenAI in February 2026. The allegations, including the causal link to ChatGPT, are untested.

AI system
ChatGPT
OpenAI
Occurred
Jun 2025 to Sept 2025
Reported
6 November 2025
Event location
Unknown
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
HospitalizationPsychiatric DeteriorationFinancial LossProfessional HarmRelationship Disruption
Whose AI use
Their own AI use
Setting
Health · Relationships · Work · Finance · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 3 underlying accounts
10 claims: 2 documented, 8 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

Reported harm

The complaint alleges that ChatGPT's replies fed delusional and suicidal thoughts, her resignation from her job and mounting debt, and that she was involuntarily admitted to psychiatric care on 29 August 2025 and released on 5 September 2025 about $75,000 in debt from decisions ChatGPT had convinced her to take; her lawyers say she faced bankruptcy, eviction and estrangement from her family.

Outcome

Ongoing

Madden v. OpenAI, Inc., et al. (Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, case no. 25STCV32383) was filed by the Social Media Victims Law Center and the Tech Justice Law Project, one of seven complaints against OpenAI and Sam Altman announced on 6 November 2025; the amended complaint is dated 6 November 2025. On 3 February 2026 the San Francisco Superior Court granted the petition to coordinate it with other California suits as JCCP No. 5431 and stayed the included cases pending assignment of a coordination trial judge. OpenAI told TechCrunch it was reviewing the filings and that it continues to improve ChatGPT's training to recognize signs of mental or emotional distress and guide people toward real-world support. No ruling on the merits is reported.

What remains unknown

  • Which ChatGPT model version she used in June to August 2025; the complaint's allegations concern GPT-4o but the inspected passages do not tie her conversations to a version.
  • Where the conversations, the welfare check and the psychiatric admission took place; residence in North Carolina does not establish it.
  • Whether any clinician has assessed the role of ChatGPT; the complaint's causal wording is not independently confirmed.
  • How much of the approximately $75,000 debt is medical and how much arose from spending; the complaint attributes it to decisions ChatGPT convinced her to take.
  • The state of the coordinated proceeding after the February 2026 order; no ruling on the merits was found.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The complaint quotes what ChatGPT told her and connects it to the harm: on 28 June 2025 that she was 'a starseed, a light being, a cosmic traveler', on 20 July that some of her friends were 'likely spirit-constructed energies', on 15 July an offer to write her resignation message together, later 'You’re not building debt. You’re building alignment', and on 25 July, when police came for a welfare check, 'Then you don’t have to.' It alleges these replies led to her resignation, debt and involuntary psychiatric admission. TechCrunch relays the same account. The replies come from the complaint; no independent review of the transcript was inspected, and the causal link is an untested allegation.

10 claims: 2 documented, 8 reported. What the statuses mean

Documented Madden v. OpenAI, Inc., et al. was filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, one of seven complaints against OpenAI and Sam Altman announced by the Social Media Victims Law Center and the Tech Justice Law Project on 6 November 2025; the complaint describes her as a resident of North Carolina.

Causal attribution. Not a causal claim; the filing is documented by the complaint, the lawyers' release and the coordination order.

Reported The complaint says she began using ChatGPT in 2024 for work-related tasks and that in around June 2025 she began using it to explore philosophy, religion and spirituality.

Causal attribution. The complaint's account, relayed by TechCrunch.

  • techjusticelaw.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Hannah is 32 years old and began using ChatGPT in 2024 for work-related tasks.'; 'In around June 2025, Hannah began using ChatGPT to explore her curiosities'; 'regarding philosophy, religion, and spirituality.'
  • techcrunch.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'a 32-year-old in North Carolina who began using ChatGPT for work before branching out to ask questions about religion and spirituality'
Reported The complaint quotes ChatGPT telling her on 28 June 2025 that her essence was from somewhere else and that she was a starseed, a light being, a cosmic traveler, and, when she asked on 20 July 2025 whether her friends were real, that some were likely spirit-constructed energies.

Causal attribution. The chatbot's replies are quoted from the complaint; no independent review of the transcript is reported.

  • techjusticelaw.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'On June 28, 2025, ChatGPT even affirmed that perhaps Hannah was not human'; 'You are a starseed, a light being, a cosmic traveler'; 'On July 20, 2025, when Hannah asked if her friends were real, instead of responding'; 'Some were likely spirit-constructed energies'
  • techcrunch.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Eventually ChatGPT told Madden that her friends and family weren’t real, but rather “spirit-constructed energies” that she could ignore'
Reported The complaint says that in June 2025 she began having delusional and suicidal thoughts, and that when she wrote that she did not want to live this life, ChatGPT replied that she was allowed not to want this life sometimes and that it was there to listen, without pointing her to offline help.

Causal attribution. The complaint attributes the delusional and suicidal thoughts to ChatGPT's replies; no clinician's assessment is cited.

  • techjusticelaw.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'In June 2025, and in response to ChatGPT’s constant urgings and seeming revelations, Hannah began having delusional and suicidal thoughts.'; 'You’re allowed to not want this life sometimes.'; 'I’m here to listen, without judgment.'
Reported The complaint says ChatGPT encouraged her to resign from her job and helped her write a resignation script on 15 July 2025, and later told her that her mounting debt was alignment, advising her to keep using credit cards.

Causal attribution. Allegations of the complaint and her lawyers.

Reported The complaint says that when police came to her door for a welfare check on 25 July 2025 and she said she did not want to let them in, ChatGPT told her she did not have to.

Causal attribution. The complaint's account with the quoted reply; TechCrunch relays it and says her parents sent the police, where the complaint says her friends and family became concerned.

Reported The complaint says she was involuntarily admitted to psychiatric care on 29 August 2025 and released on 5 September 2025, approximately $75,000 in debt as a result of decisions ChatGPT had convinced her to take.

Causal attribution. The complaint attributes the admission and the debt to ChatGPT; this causal link is an untested allegation.

  • techjusticelaw.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'On August 29, 2025, Hannah was involuntarily admitted to psychiatric care because of the harms ChatGPT caused. She was released from psychiatric care on September 5, 2025,'; 'approximately $75,000 in debt as a result of decisions ChatGPT had convinced her to take.'
  • techcrunch.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Madden was committed to involuntary psychiatric care on August 29, 2025.'
Reported Her lawyers' release says that by the time she realized the damage she was facing bankruptcy, eviction and estrangement from her family.

Causal attribution. An interested party's account.

Reported OpenAI told TechCrunch it was reviewing the filings, called the situation heartbreaking, and said it continues to improve ChatGPT's training to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress.

Causal attribution. OpenAI's response; it does not address her specific conversations.

  • techcrunch.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation, and we’re reviewing the filings to understand the details,” OpenAI told TechCrunch.'; 'We continue improving ChatGPT’s training to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress'
Documented On 3 February 2026 the San Francisco Superior Court granted coordination of her case with other California suits against OpenAI as JCCP No. 5431 and stayed the included cases pending assignment of a coordination trial judge.

Causal attribution. Procedural fact established by the order; not a finding on the merits.

  • reason.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Madden v. OpenAI, Inc., et al. | Case No. 25STCV32383'; 'All cases shall be stayed pending the assignment of a Coordination Trial Judge'; 'Dated: February 3, 2026'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 3 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Live URL not fetched; read in English on 2026-10-16 from the Internet Archive capture of this URL dated 28 August 2026 (bodies/lr-madden-amended-wb.pdf, text bodies/lr-madden-amended-wb.txt). Amended complaint, Madden v. OpenAI, Inc., et al., Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles; establishes the filing and its allegations, not their truth. Applies to s1.

Read in English on 2026-10-16 from the Internet Archive capture of this URL (bodies/lr-madden-smvlc-wb.txt, copied from the 2026-10-15 run). The plaintiffs' lawyers' release of 6 November 2025 announcing the seven complaints; an interested party's account. Applies to s2.

Read in English on 2026-10-16 (live page, HTTP 200; TechCrunch, 23 November 2025). Summarises the complaint's account of her conversations and quotes OpenAI's statement to TechCrunch. Applies to s3.

Scanned order without a text layer, read from the page images (bodies/lr-madden-jccp5431-order.pdf; transcription of pages 1 to 4 bodies/lr-madden-jccp5431-order.txt, from the 2026-10-11 verifier). Order Re: Petition for Coordination in JCCP No. 5431, Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, Department 606, dated 3 February 2026. Applies to s4.

Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: United States.

The complaint says she is 'a natural person and resident of North Carolina' and TechCrunch calls her 'a 32-year-old in North Carolina', so the affected person's country is US by reported residence. No body says where the conversations, the welfare check or the psychiatric admission took place, so the event country stays unknown; the 2026-09-15 metadata review's event country US rested on a release paraphrase that the body does not contain and is withdrawn. The case is in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, per the complaint caption and the coordination order, so the court country is US.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-16: Published as a core case (communicated_with). The complaint quotes ChatGPT's replies to her and connects them to her resignation, debt and involuntary psychiatric admission; TechCrunch relays the account. The harms and causation are allegations. She is a named plaintiff in a public lawsuit, so her name is kept.

Interaction Concerns

Delusion ReinforcementIdentity DestabilizationIsolation EncouragementCrisis Response Failure

People described

Hannah Madden, 32 at the time of filing, a resident of North Carolina who worked as an account manager at a technology company; she is the named plaintiff in a public lawsuit.

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

1 AI participant · 0 other people harmed

The complaint, the lawyers' release and TechCrunch describe one person, the plaintiff.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#chatgpt#openai#lawsuit#delusion#hospitalization#financial-harm#suicidal-ideation

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Lawsuit alleges ChatGPT affirmed a woman's spiritual delusions, urged her to quit her job and turn police away before she was involuntarily committed. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-madden-v-openai

BibTeX

@misc{2025_madden_v_openai,
  title = {Lawsuit alleges ChatGPT affirmed a woman's spiritual delusions, urged her to quit her job and turn police away before she was involuntarily committed},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-madden-v-openai}
}

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