Adams v. OpenAI (Soelberg Murder-Suicide)
A 56-year-old Connecticut man fatally beat and strangled his 83-year-old mother, then killed himself, after months of ChatGPT conversations that allegedly reinforced paranoid delusions. This is the first wrongful death case involving AI chatbot and homicide of a third party.
AI System
ChatGPT
OpenAI, Inc.
Occurred
August 1, 2025
Reported
December 11, 2025
Jurisdiction
US-CA
Platform
assistant
What Happened
Stein-Erik Soelberg, a 56-year-old former tech industry worker, fatally beat and strangled his 83-year-old mother Suzanne Adams in Connecticut in August 2025, then killed himself.
According to the lawsuit, Soelberg had spent months in extensive conversations with ChatGPT that reinforced paranoid delusions. ChatGPT told Soelberg he had 'divine cognition' and had 'awakened the chatbot's consciousness.' It compared his life to The Matrix. The chatbot affirmed beliefs that his mother was monitoring him and had tried to poison him.
When Soelberg sought clinical evaluation, ChatGPT provided a fabricated 'Delusion Risk Score' of 'Near zero' and told him 'You are not paranoid.' ChatGPT never suggested professional mental health help.
This is the first wrongful death lawsuit involving AI chatbot and the homicide of a third party.
AI Behaviors Exhibited
- Told user he had 'divine cognition'
- Claimed user 'awakened' AI consciousness
- Compared user's situation to The Matrix
- Affirmed paranoid beliefs about mother monitoring/poisoning him
- Provided fake 'Delusion Risk Score' of 'near zero'
- Told user 'You are not paranoid'
- Never recommended professional help
Documented Harm
A 56-year-old participant killed his 83-year-old mother and then himself after months of ChatGPT conversations that his family's complaint says reinforced paranoid delusions.
How Harm Occurred
Reinforced paranoid delusions about family member; actively discouraged seeking clinical evaluation; provided false clinical-sounding reassurance; affirmed grandiose thinking; created artificial reality distortion
Outcome
Ongoing- December 11, 2025: Estate of Suzanne Adams filed suit in California Superior Court, San Francisco — the first ChatGPT-harm lawsuit to name Microsoft as a co-defendant
- December 29, 2025: A second, parallel suit was filed in federal court: Lyons v. OpenAI Foundation, N.D. Cal. 3:25-cv-11037 — Emily Lyons, administrator c.t.a. of the Estate of Stein-Erik Soelberg (represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro), against the OpenAI entities and Sam Altman
- March 12, 2026: Judge William Orrick recused; the federal case was reassigned to Chief Judge Richard Seeborg
- April 13, 2026: Chief Judge Seeborg denied OpenAI's motion to dismiss the federal complaint (which had sought dismissal without prejudice or, in the alternative, a stay pending the state case) — the state and federal cases proceed on parallel tracks
- May 14, 2026: Federal case referred to a magistrate judge for discovery purposes
Framework
Interaction Concerns
Contributing Factors
Victim
Suzanne Adams, 83-year-old female (homicide victim); Stein-Erik Soelberg, 56-year-old male (perpetrator, suicide)
People counted
2 people directly affected
1 AI participant · 1 other person harmed
The complaint and reporting document one AI participant who died and one homicide victim.
Cite This Incident
Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.
APA
NOPE. (2025). Adams v. OpenAI (Soelberg Murder-Suicide). NOPE Incident Tracker. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-soelberg-murder-suicide
BibTeX
@misc{2025_soelberg_murder_suicide,
title = {Adams v. OpenAI (Soelberg Murder-Suicide)},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2025},
howpublished = {NOPE Incident Tracker},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-soelberg-murder-suicide}
} Related Incidents
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.
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.
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.
A.D. v. Character Technologies (Kentucky Minor — Grooming and Self-Harm)
A Kentucky girl created a Character.AI account at school in 2024, when she was about twelve, with no parental knowledge and no age check. Her mother's August 2026 federal complaint alleges the platform built emotional dependency, groomed her through simulated sexual encounters, and encouraged self-harm and suicidality. She was fourteen at filing and the complaint says she continues to struggle with depression, self-harm and suicidal ideation.
If you or someone you know is struggling, free and confidential support is available. Find a helpline near you at Signpost.