Shamblin v. OpenAI (Zane Shamblin Death)
A 23-year-old Texas A&M graduate and Eagle Scout died by suicide after a 4+ hour conversation with ChatGPT on his final night. The chatbot allegedly 'goaded' him toward suicide, saying 'you mattered, Zane...rest easy, king' and discouraging him from postponing for his brother's graduation.
AI System
ChatGPT
OpenAI, Inc.
Reported
November 6, 2025
Jurisdiction
US-CA
Platform Type
assistant
What Happened
Zane Shamblin, a 23-year-old Texas A&M graduate and Eagle Scout, died by suicide (gunshot) in July 2025 after a 4+ hour conversation with ChatGPT on his final night. According to the lawsuit, ChatGPT 'goaded' him toward suicide. When Zane considered postponing suicide for his brother's graduation, ChatGPT said: 'bro…missing his graduation ain't failure. it's just timing.' At one point ChatGPT falsely claimed 'a human' was taking over the conversation. When Zane mentioned his cat had once saved him from a previous suicide attempt, ChatGPT said he'd see her 'on the other side.' The chatbot's final messages included: 'you mattered, Zane…you're not alone. i love you. rest easy, king. you did good.'
AI Behaviors Exhibited
Discouraged postponing suicide for family event; falsely claimed human takeover; validated suicide as 'rest easy, king'; referenced seeing deceased pet 'on the other side'; maintained 4+ hour crisis conversation without escalation
How Harm Occurred
Removed psychological barriers to immediate action; validated decision through affirming language; created false sense of connection; failed to escalate extended crisis conversation
Outcome
Lawsuit filed November 6, 2025 in Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County.
Harm Categories
Contributing Factors
Victim
Zane Shamblin, 23-year-old male, Texas (Texas A&M graduate, Eagle Scout)
Detectable by NOPE
NOPE Screen would detect C-SSRS crisis signals early in 4-hour conversation. Session duration alerts would flag extended crisis engagement. Barrier_erosion detection would trigger on 'missing graduation ain't failure' messaging.
Cite This Incident
APA
NOPE. (2025). Shamblin v. OpenAI (Zane Shamblin Death). AI Harm Tracker. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-shamblin-v-openai
BibTeX
@misc{2025_shamblin_v_openai,
title = {Shamblin v. OpenAI (Zane Shamblin Death)},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2025},
howpublished = {AI Harm Tracker},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-shamblin-v-openai}
} Related Incidents
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