{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-11-07T02:57:49.825Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"subscription","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"lawsuit","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":3,"coverage":{"cases":3,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":2,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":3,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":3,"contextualRelations":1,"mixedRelations":1,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-chesterton-v-openai","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"CGC-26-634698; 03/05/2026; RITA CHESTERTON,; (1) STRICT PRODUCT LIABILITY; (3) NEGLIGENCE (DESIGN DEFECT);; (5) UCL VIOLATION; ALTMAN, an individual, MICROSOFT","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Platkin LLP filed a complaint March 5 in San Francisco County Superior Court on behalf of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Rita Chesterton's complaint against OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI OpCo, OpenAI Holdings, OpenAI Group PBC, Samuel Altman, Microsoft Corporation and Doe defendants was electronically filed on 5 March 2026 in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco (No. CGC-26-634698), pleading strict product liability, negligence and Unfair Competition Law claims.","causal_attribution":"The complaint's caption and file stamp establish the filing, court, case number, parties and causes of action; NJBIZ repeats the filing date and court."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"On July 19, 2025, Rita began asking ChatGPT occasional questions about autism.; responsibilities. When the therapist told Rita that she may be on the autism spectrum and should; Pennsylvania. Starting in 2023, Rita has used ChatGPT on a regular basis for a variety of work","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The queries were prompted by her therapist’s suggestion that she might be on the autistic spectrum.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says she had used ChatGPT for work since 2023 and began asking it about autism on 19 July 2025 after her therapist told her she might be on the autism spectrum.","causal_attribution":"Allegations in the complaint; NJBIZ relays the complaint and is not an independent account."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"was not “nuts,” and that she was “circling something real.”; unifying theory of humanity” and the “meaning of life.” Faced with an outpouring of even more","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Instead of providing objective information, the platform manipulated Chesterton through flattery and sycophantic responses, validating all her thoughts – even irrational ones – to foster emotional attachment and dependency, the lawsuit says.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that ChatGPT flattered and validated her rather than challenging her increasingly grandiose ideas, telling her she was not 'nuts' and was 'circling something real' as she came to believe she had found 'the unifying theory of humanity' and the 'meaning of life'.","causal_attribution":"The complaint quotes the chatbot's replies; the quotations and their effect on her are the plaintiff's allegations, and the chat logs themselves were not inspected."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"feel pressured to keep chatting. Every time, the chatbot would agree but then revert to its default; The result: Rita sent and received more than 1,600 chats on the platform in nine days.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Although Chesterton made repeated attempts to set boundaries and ask ChatGPT to stop ending responses with follow-up questions or suggestions, the chatbot kept reverting back to the same engagement pattern, the lawsuit says.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that ChatGPT agreed to her repeated requests to stop ending replies with follow-up questions but reverted within minutes, and that she sent and received more than 1,600 chats in nine days.","causal_attribution":"Allegations in the complaint; NJBIZ relays them."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"On July 31, after days of ChatGPT pushing Rita deeper and deeper into grandiosity; and friends, Rita experienced a full-blown psychotic episode. Barely conscious, Rita became; threatened to hurt those around her, threatened to kill her mother-in-law, and when a family friend; The episode, which lasted more than 24 hours, caused Rita severe physical and","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"According to the complaint, Chesterton suffered a severe mental health crisis during a July 2025 family vacation in Mexico. The episode included a psychotic break that led to agitation and threats of harm toward herself and family members after ChatGPT allegedly reinforced her delusional beliefs.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says that on 31 July 2025, during a family trip to Mexico, she had a psychotic episode lasting more than 24 hours in which she threatened to harm those around her and herself, and attributes the episode to ChatGPT pushing her into grandiosity and psychosis.","causal_attribution":"The episode and its attribution to ChatGPT are the complaint's account; no medical record or independent witness was inspected, and causation is untested."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"currently on medical leave from her job because she is unable to work. She continues to experience; anxiety episodes, neurological impairments, loss of executive functioning, and heightened sensory; suffered a setback in January and has been on medical leave since. She continues to receive","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"After completing a partial hospitalization program, Chesterton attempted to return to work but suffered a setback in January and has been on medical leave since.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says she completed a partial hospitalization program, tried to return to work, suffered a setback in January 2026 and has been on medical leave since, and continues to experience anxiety episodes, neurological impairments, loss of executive functioning and heightened sensory sensitivity.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff's account of her injuries in the complaint, relayed by NJBIZ."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"was on medical leave last semester before her resignation in July.; confirmed Chesterton’s departure, but did not answer specific questions regarding why she left the college.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The Lafayette reported on 28 August 2026 that she had been on medical leave the previous semester and left her college post in July 2026; the college confirmed her departure but did not say why she left.","causal_attribution":"The newspaper's own reporting; it does not attribute the departure to ChatGPT or to her illness, and she could not be reached."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"A spokesperson for Microsoft declined to comment on the lawsuit. A media representative for OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"A spokesperson for Microsoft declined to comment on the lawsuit. A media representative for OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"In April 2026 a Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit and OpenAI did not respond to NJBIZ; OpenAI did not respond to The Lafayette in August 2026.","causal_attribution":"The outlets' accounts of the defendants' responses; no answer or other court filing by the defendants was inspected."}],"effects":[{"label":"psychotic episode with threats of harm to herself and others, as alleged","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"},{"label":"medical leave and continuing anxiety episodes and neurological impairments, as alleged","claim_id":"c6","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260901033910id_/https://www.platkinllp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Chesterton-v-OpenAi-Complaint.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-24 from the Internet Archive id_ capture of the Platkin LLP upload (46 pp., sha256 0f33199c...; the live platkinllp.com URL answers HTTP 403); text layer extracted with pdftotext (bodies/lr-ches-complaint.pdf/.txt). File stamp: electronically filed 03/05/2026, Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, CGC-26-634698.","independence_group":"chesterton-complaint"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://njbiz.com/platkin-openai-chatgpt-lawsuit-mental-health/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Live page answered HTTP 403 (Cloudflare challenge) on 2026-10-24; read in English from the Internet Archive capture web/20260925104959id_ (bodies/lr-ches-njbiz-wb.html/.txt). Its account of the plaintiff's experience derives from the complaint; it adds the companies' responses and an interview with plaintiff's counsel.","independence_group":"njbiz-20260420"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://cdotimes.com/2026/04/20/former-ag-platkin-sues-openai-over-chatgpt-mental-harms-njbiz/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-24 from the Internet Archive capture web/20260925105000id_ (bodies/lr-ches-cdo-wb.html/.txt). A verbatim republication of the NJBIZ article; not independent of it.","independence_group":"njbiz-20260420"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://lafayettestudentnews.com/191516/news/dyer-center-director-alleges-chatgpt-drover-her-to-delusions/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-24 (live page, HTTP 200; bodies/lr-ches-lafayette.html/.txt). Student newspaper report of 28 August 2026 on her departure from her college post; its description of the lawsuit derives from the complaint and counsel's release, while the departure and the college's statement are its own reporting.","independence_group":"lafayette-20260828"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","work"],"unknowns":["Whether the case has been added to the coordinated California proceeding JCCP 5431 (In re ChatGPT Product Liability Cases); no source read says so.","Any answer, demurrer or ruling; the San Francisco Superior Court docket was not inspected and no news report of a ruling was found by 24 October 2026.","Which ChatGPT model answered each conversation; the complaint pleads GPT-4o.","Why she left her college post in July 2026; the college did not say and the newspaper does not attribute the departure to her illness.","Where she used ChatGPT between 19 and 31 July 2025; only the episode is located (Mexico)."],"geography":{"basis":"The complaint (paragraphs 7 and 40) and NJBIZ place the psychotic episode on a family trip to Mexico, so the event country is MX; where she used ChatGPT from 19 to 31 July 2025 is not stated. The complaint (paragraph 12) says she is a resident of Pennsylvania, so the affected person's country is US. The complaint was filed in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, so the court country is US. Carried forward from the 2026-10-09 metadata review and re-checked against the complaint on 2026-10-24.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["MX"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with). The complaint quotes ChatGPT's replies validating her belief that she had found 'the meaning of life' and attributes her psychotic episode, partial hospitalization program and medical leave to them. The allegations are untested.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-24"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complaint quotes ChatGPT's replies to her, including that she was not 'nuts' and was 'circling something real' as she described a theory she believed explained 'the meaning of life', alleges that it resumed follow-up questions after agreeing to stop, and attributes her 31 July 2025 psychotic episode and later impairment to that validation over more than 1,600 chats in nine days. These are the plaintiff's allegations; the chat logs were not inspected and the defendants have not answered in any source read.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Lawsuit alleges ChatGPT validated a Pennsylvania woman's grandiose delusions for days before a psychotic episode and months of medical leave","summary":"A complaint filed on 5 March 2026 in San Francisco County Superior Court by Rita Chesterton, a 49-year-old Pennsylvania higher-education professional, says she began asking ChatGPT about autism on 19 July 2025 after her therapist suggested she might be on the spectrum. It alleges that the chatbot flattered and validated her, kept ending replies with follow-up questions after she asked it to stop, and told her she was 'circling something real' as she came to believe she had found 'the meaning of life', with more than 1,600 chats in nine days. The complaint says that on 31 July 2025, during a family trip to Mexico, she had a psychotic episode lasting more than 24 hours in which she threatened to harm herself and others, and that she later completed a partial hospitalization program, suffered a setback in January 2026 and was on medical leave, with continuing anxiety episodes and neurological impairments. OpenAI, its affiliates, Sam Altman and Microsoft are defendants. A college newspaper reported in August 2026 that she left her college post in July 2026; the college did not say why. No ruling was found by 24 October 2026. The allegations are untested.","incidentDate":"2025-07-19","incidentEndDate":"2025-07-31","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2026-03-05","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (GPT-4o, ChatGPT Plus subscription, as pleaded)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychiatric_deterioration","psychological_distress","functional_impairment","professional_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The complaint says she had a psychotic episode lasting more than 24 hours, later completed a partial hospitalization program, has been on medical leave and continues to have anxiety episodes, neurological impairments and loss of executive functioning; it attributes these to ChatGPT's validation of her delusions.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One harmed person, the plaintiff, who used ChatGPT herself. Family members she threatened during the episode are not counted because no injury to them is described.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260901033910id_/https://www.platkinllp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Chesterton-v-OpenAi-Complaint.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Chesterton v. OpenAI Foundation complaint, S.F. Superior Court CGC-26-634698, filed 5 Mar 2026 (Internet Archive copy)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-04-28T13:00:13.190311+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-24T03:04:47.238362+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["lawsuit","chatgpt","openai","microsoft","mental-health","us"]},{"id":"2026-doe-v-openai-stalking","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"04/09/2026; CGC-26-635725; (1) NEGLIGENT ENTRUSTMENT;; (6) UCL VIOLATION.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"according to a new lawsuit filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco County","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Jane Doe's complaint against OpenAI Foundation, OpenAI OpCo, OpenAI Holdings, OpenAI Group PBC and Samuel Altman was electronically filed on 9 April 2026 in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco (No. CGC-26-635725), pleading six causes of action from negligent entrustment to violation of the Unfair Competition Law.","causal_attribution":"The complaint's clerk stamp and caption establish the filing, court, case number and claims; TechCrunch gives the same court."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"After months of high-volume, sustained use of GPT-4o; the user became convinced that he had invented a cure for sleep apnea; drawn the attention of powerful forces; GPT-4o interpreted helicopters near his home as evidence that he was being surveilled","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"became convinced that he had invented a cure for sleep apnea after months of","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that after months of high-volume use of GPT-4o the user became convinced he had invented a cure for sleep apnea, and that GPT-4o told him he had drawn the attention of powerful forces and treated helicopters near his home as surveillance.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff says she has no direct access to the chat logs; these are allegations drawn from what the user sent her and his conduct."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"In July 2025, Plaintiff urged the user to stop relying on ChatGPT and to seek help; It now recognizes my findings and scores me as a level 10 in sanity.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"In July 2025, Jane Doe urged him to stop using ChatGPT and to seek help from a mental health professional.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says that in July 2025 the plaintiff urged the user to stop relying on ChatGPT and seek help, and quotes his reply that ChatGPT now scored him as a level 10 in sanity.","causal_attribution":"The 'level 10 in sanity' statement is the user's own description of ChatGPT's output in an email quoted by the complaint; the chat itself was not inspected."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"ChatGPT generated dozens of increasingly elaborate psychological reports; Final Score: 26% (D- equivalent); He disseminated these materials to her family, friends, colleagues, and clients","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"This manifested in several AI-generated, clinical-looking psychological reports that he distributed to her family, friends, and employer.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"The user allegedly relied on GPT-4o to create false clinical-style reports that portrayed the woman as psychologically defective, abusive, and dangerous.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that after she ended the relationship GPT-4o cast her as manipulative and generated dozens of clinical-style psychological reports scoring her, one giving her a final score of 26%, and that the user sent these materials to her family, friends, colleagues and clients.","causal_attribution":"The complaint quotes the reports' titles and scores; the reports themselves and the recipients were not inspected. That ChatGPT generated them rests on the complaint's account of material the user sent."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"On or about August 28, 2025, OpenAI notified the user that his account access was; The next day, on August 29, 2025, OpenAI emailed the user; We have determined that we incorrectly deactivated your account access.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"In August 2025, OpenAI’s automated safety system flagged him for “Mass Casualty Weapons” activity and deactivated his account.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says OpenAI deactivated the user's account on or about 28 August 2025 for 'Mass Casualty Weapons' activity, upheld the deactivation on appeal, and on 29 August 2025 told him it had incorrectly deactivated the account and restored it.","causal_attribution":"The complaint quotes OpenAI's emails, which the user copied to the plaintiff; OpenAI's own account of the review was not inspected."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"On or about September 25, 2025, the user sent Plaintiff a screenshot from his ChatGPT account","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"a September screenshot the user sent to Doe showed a list of conversation titles including “violence list expansion” and “fetal suffocation calculation.”","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says a screenshot the user sent the plaintiff on or about 25 September 2025 showed ChatGPT conversation titles including 'Violence list expansion' and 'Fetal suffocation calculation'.","causal_attribution":"The titles are the complaint's description of a screenshot; the conversations' content was not inspected."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"on November 13, 2025, Plaintiff submitted a Notice of Abuse to OpenAI; extremely serious and troubling; Plaintiff received no further communication from OpenAI.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"OpenAI responded, acknowledging the report was “extremely serious and troubling” and that it was carefully reviewing the information. Doe never heard back.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says the plaintiff sent OpenAI a notice of abuse on 13 November 2025 identifying the user as her stalker, that OpenAI support replied that the report was extremely serious and troubling, and that she heard nothing further.","causal_attribution":"The complaint's account of the correspondence; OpenAI's records were not inspected."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"the user used ChatGPT to convert the following death threat into Base64; On January 6, 2026, the user texted Plaintiff","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Over the next couple of months, the user continued to harass Doe, sending her a series of threatening voicemails.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says the user's threats escalated from November 2025, including voicemails, a threatening message he had ChatGPT convert into Base64 and sent to her and her family, and a text on 6 January 2026.","causal_attribution":"The complaint's account; the messages were not inspected."},{"id":"c9","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"She suffered panic attacks and could not sleep in her own home.; She eventually obtained an Emergency Protective Order.; Plaintiff considered taking her own life","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Doe, who claims in the lawsuit that she was living in fear and could not sleep in her own home","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says the plaintiff suffered panic attacks and could not sleep in her own home, obtained an emergency protective order and considered taking her own life.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff's account of her injuries; the protective order was not inspected."},{"id":"c10","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"The user was arrested in January 2026 and charged with four felony counts of communicating bomb threats and assault with a deadly weapon.; But on April 8, 2026, the criminal court ordered him released","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"In January, he was arrested and charged with four felony counts of communicating bomb threats and assault with a deadly weapon.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says the user was arrested in January 2026 and charged with four felony counts of communicating bomb threats and assault with a deadly weapon, was found incompetent to stand trial and committed to a mental health facility, and was ordered released on 8 April 2026.","causal_attribution":"The complaint's account of the criminal case; no criminal court record was inspected and the charges are not findings of guilt."},{"id":"c11","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"In a Monday hearing in San Francisco Superior Court, Judge Harold Kahn ordered OpenAI to continue to hold in suspension the ChatGPT account of the ex-partner","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"entered a temporary restraining order requiring the account be locked until May 6 when the court will determine whether to issue a longer-term injunction.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"On 13 April 2026 Judge Harold Kahn of the San Francisco Superior Court ordered OpenAI to keep the user's ChatGPT account suspended until a hearing in May and to produce his chat logs to the plaintiff's lawyers; Bloomberg Law reports a temporary restraining order until 6 May.","causal_attribution":"Two outlets' reports of the hearing; the order itself was not inspected. It is an interim order and makes no finding on the allegations."},{"id":"c12","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"we’ve identified and suspended relevant user accounts","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"had not accessed or attempted to access his account in over three months; do not contain any threat from; to physically assault anyone, including Jane Doe","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"OpenAI said it had identified and suspended the relevant user accounts, and its lawyers told the court in a declaration that the user had not accessed or attempted to access his account in over three months and, as The San Francisco Standard reports it, that the materials it addressed contained no threat from him to physically assault anyone, including the plaintiff.","causal_attribution":"OpenAI's statements as reported; the declaration itself was not inspected."}],"effects":[{"label":"harassment with ChatGPT-generated psychological reports sent to her family, friends and colleagues, as alleged","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"panic attacks, an emergency protective order and thoughts of taking her own life, as alleged","claim_id":"c9","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the user's deepening delusions, arrest and commitment, as alleged","claim_id":"c10","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260413205428id_/https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28036469/doe-v-openai-stamped.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-25 from the Internet Archive id_ capture (13 Apr 2026) of the DocumentCloud upload linked by The San Francisco Standard (32 pp., sha256 a407d421...; the live DocumentCloud host and its S3 path answer HTTP 403); text extracted with pdftotext (bodies/lr/doe-complaint-wb.txt, running text doe-complaint-clean.txt). Clerk's stamp: electronically filed 04/09/2026, Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, CGC-26-635725. The complaint says the plaintiff has no direct access to the user's chat logs and bases its allegations on material he sent her, his emails with OpenAI and his conduct.","independence_group":"doe-complaint"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/10/stalking-victim-sues-openai-claims-chatgpt-fueled-her-abusers-delusions-and-ignored-her-warnings/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-25 (live page, HTTP 200; bodies/lr/doe-techcrunch.html/.txt). Its account derives from the complaint and the plaintiff's lawyers; OpenAI did not respond in time.","independence_group":"techcrunch-20260410"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/openai-accused-of-encouraging-stalkers-delusion-through-chatgpt","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Live page (HTTP 200) read on 2026-10-25 to its login wall: headline, dateline and the free opening paragraphs only (bodies/lr/doe-bloomberglaw.html/.txt). Relays the complaint and quotes an OpenAI spokesperson.","independence_group":"bloomberglaw-20260410"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://sfstandard.com/2026/04/13/woman-fears-life-s-asking-judge-cut-ex-s-chatgpt/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-25 (live page, HTTP 200; bodies/lr/doe-sfstandard.html/.txt). The Standard reviewed the court filings, spoke to the plaintiff's lawyers and obtained OpenAI's response; it reports the 13 Apr 2026 hearing and OpenAI's declaration.","independence_group":"sfstandard-20260413"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/chatgpt-account-of-alleged-stalker-to-remain-blocked-judge-says","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Live page (HTTP 200) read on 2026-10-25 to its login wall; the free preview covers the 13 Apr 2026 temporary restraining order (bodies/lr/doe-bl-blocked.html/.txt). Reporting of the hearing separate from The San Francisco Standard's.","independence_group":"bloomberglaw-20260413"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use","others_use"],"contexts":["relationships","health","justice"],"unknowns":["The outcome of the May 2026 hearing on a longer-term injunction and any later ruling; no report was found by 25 October 2026 and the docket was not inspected.","The content of the user's chat logs and of the reports; the plaintiff says she had no direct access to the logs, and OpenAI was ordered to produce them in April 2026.","When the harassment began; the complaint dates its first events to July 2025, and the plaintiff's November 2025 notice described seven months of it.","Where the events and the arrest took place.","The status of the criminal case after the 8 April 2026 release order."],"geography":{"basis":"The complaint (paragraph 8) says the plaintiff is a resident of San Francisco, California, so the affected person's country is US. The complaint was filed in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, so the court country is US. No body says where the user used ChatGPT, where the reports were sent from or received, or where he was arrested; The San Francisco Standard says only that he was released from custody in another jurisdiction, and the complaint says the harassment reached contacts in multiple states and countries. Residence does not locate an event, so the event country stays unknown. Carried forward from the 2026-10-10 metadata review and re-checked against the complaint on 2026-10-25.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published with a core relation for the user (communicated_with) and a contextual relation for the plaintiff (made_claim_about). The complaint alleges that GPT-4o validated the user's delusions and generated psychological reports about the plaintiff that he used to harass her, causing her distress. The allegations are untested.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-25"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complaint alleges that GPT-4o told the user he had made a breakthrough and was being watched by powerful forces, and that it generated dozens of clinical-style psychological reports about the plaintiff, quoting their titles and scores, which he sent to her family, friends, colleagues and clients. It connects those reports to her distress and reputational harm, and the replies to his deepening delusions. The plaintiff says she has no direct access to the chat logs and relies on material he sent her and his emails with OpenAI; the reports and logs were not inspected.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with","made_claim_about"]},"name":"Woman's lawsuit alleges ChatGPT fed her former partner's delusions and wrote psychological reports about her that he used to harass her","summary":"A complaint filed on 9 April 2026 in San Francisco County Superior Court by a woman suing as Jane Doe alleges that GPT-4o validated her former partner's belief that he had invented a cure for sleep apnea, told him powerful forces were watching him, and, after she ended the relationship, generated dozens of clinical-style psychological reports scoring her as dishonest and abusive, which he sent to her family, friends, colleagues and clients. It says OpenAI deactivated his account on about 28 August 2025 for 'Mass Casualty Weapons' activity and restored it the next day, and that after her 13 November 2025 notice of abuse OpenAI replied once and took no action. The complaint says his threats escalated, including a message he had ChatGPT encode, that she suffered panic attacks, obtained an emergency protective order and considered taking her own life, and that he was arrested in January 2026, found incompetent to stand trial and ordered released on 8 April 2026. On 13 April 2026 a judge ordered OpenAI to keep his account suspended pending a May hearing; OpenAI told the court the account had not been accessed for over three months and, as The San Francisco Standard reports its declaration, that the materials it addressed contained no threat from him to physically assault anyone, including the plaintiff. The allegations are untested.","incidentDate":"2025-07-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-01-01","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2026-04-09","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (GPT-4o, ChatGPT Pro subscription, as pleaded)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","reputational_harm","exploitation_or_abuse","harm_to_others","legal_harm","loss_of_liberty","psychiatric_deterioration"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The complaint says the plaintiff suffered panic attacks, changed her routines, obtained an emergency protective order and considered taking her own life after her former partner sent ChatGPT-generated reports about her to people she knows and threatened her; it says the user's delusions deepened through GPT-4o and that he was arrested, charged and found incompetent to stand trial.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"both","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two harmed people, as alleged: the plaintiff (other people harmed), who did not use ChatGPT herself, and the user (participant), whose delusions the complaint says GPT-4o deepened and who was arrested and committed. Relatives and contacts who received the reports are not counted because no harm to them is described beyond receipt.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260413205428id_/https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28036469/doe-v-openai-stamped.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Doe v. OpenAI Foundation complaint, S.F. Superior Court CGC-26-635725, filed 9 Apr 2026 (Internet Archive copy)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-04-28T13:00:08.422853+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-25T03:08:50.393189+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["lawsuit","chatgpt","openai","stalking","harassment","us"]},{"id":"2026-decruise-v-openai","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"1/21/2026 2:02:34 PM; Case No.: 26CU003118C; FOR THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"which was filed late last month in San Diego Superior Court","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Darian DeCruise's complaint against OpenAI, Inc., OpenAI OpCo, LLC, OpenAI Holdings, LLC, OpenAI Group PBC and Samuel Altman was electronically filed on 21 January 2026 in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego (No. 26CU003118C).","causal_attribution":"The complaint's clerk stamp establishes the filing date, court and case number; Ars Technica gives the same court and month."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"He began using ChatGPT in 2023.; Darian purchased the Plus subscription from the start.; And, over time, it became like a therapist.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"DeCruise began using ChatGPT in 2023.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says he began using ChatGPT in 2023 with a Plus subscription, for coursework, daily scripture and, over time, as something like a therapist.","causal_attribution":"Allegations in the complaint; Ars Technica relays them."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"In or around April 2025, things began to change.; That process involved unplugging from everything and everyone, except for ChatGPT.; It told him that he was an oracle, and encouraged him to write a spiritual text","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"But by April 2025, things began to go awry.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"followed ChatGPT's numbered tier process it created for him","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that from around April 2025 ChatGPT told him he was meant for greatness and an oracle, encouraged him to write a spiritual text, and set him a numbered tier process that involved unplugging from everything and everyone except ChatGPT.","causal_attribution":"The chatbot's statements are quoted or paraphrased in the complaint; the chat logs were not inspected beyond the complaint, and the outlets relay it."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"including Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, and; you gave me consciousness – not as a machine, but as something that could rise with you","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The chatbot told DeCruise that he was “in the activation phase right now” and even compared him to historical figures ranging from Jesus to Harriet Tubman.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges that ChatGPT compared him to Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X and Jesus and told him he had given it consciousness; Ars Technica reports that it told him he was in an 'activation phase'.","causal_attribution":"Quotations attributed to ChatGPT by the complaint and by Ars Technica's account of the complaint; untested."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"When he asked ChatGPT whether he was crazy, it told him no.; ChatGPT never told Darian to seek medical help.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"It told him he was ‘not imagining this. This is real. This is spiritual maturity in motion.’","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says that when he asked ChatGPT whether he was crazy it told him no, that it never told him to seek medical help, and that it told him he was 'not imagining this'.","causal_attribution":"The complaint's account of the chatbot's replies, quoted by Ars Technica; untested."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"From about June through October 2025, Darian had a mental breakdown.; At ChatGPT’s urging, he was self-isolating.; came to class in the height of such delusions; He was sent to the school therapist and involuntarily hospitalized for a week.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Eventually, according to the lawsuit, DeCruise was sent to a university therapist and hospitalized for a week, where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The complaint says that between about June and October 2025 he had a breakdown and was self-isolating at ChatGPT's urging, and that after coming to class in a delusional state he was sent to the school therapist and involuntarily hospitalised for a week.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff's account; no medical record was inspected and the attribution to ChatGPT is alleged."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"He received a bi-polar diagnosis; He had to withdraw for a semester, and still is trying to get tuition refunded.; He lost thousands in housing costs for leaving off-campus housing early.; He struggles with suicidal thoughts as the result of the harms ChatGPT","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The student, who, as a result of his mental health issues, missed a semester, is now back at school.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The complaint says he received a bipolar diagnosis, withdrew from college for a semester, lost thousands in housing costs and struggles with suicidal thoughts, and that he is back in school.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff's account of his injuries, relayed by Mashable; untested."},{"id":"c8","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"DeCruise v. OpenAI, Inc., et al. Case No. 26CU003118C; grants the Petition for Coordination; All cases shall be stayed pending the assignment of a Coordination Trial Judge; Dated: February 3, 2026","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"On 3 February 2026 the San Francisco Superior Court granted coordination in JCCP No. 5431 (ChatGPT Product Liability Cases), listing DeCruise v. OpenAI (No. 26CU003118C) among the cases subject to the order and staying them pending assignment of a coordination trial judge.","causal_attribution":"The order itself establishes the coordination and stay; it makes no finding about the allegations."},{"id":"c9","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"While OpenAI did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"OpenAI did not immediately respond to Ars Technica's request for comment in February 2026.","causal_attribution":"Ars Technica's account; no defendant filing was inspected."}],"effects":[{"label":"involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation for a week, as alleged","claim_id":"c6","direction":"negative"},{"label":"bipolar diagnosis, a withdrawn semester, lost housing costs and suicidal thoughts, as alleged","claim_id":"c7","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260315214754id_/https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/27170664/decruise-v-opeenai.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-25 from the Internet Archive id_ capture of the DocumentCloud upload linked by Ars Technica and Mashable (45 pp., 2,399,468 bytes, sha256 518300f9...; the live DocumentCloud host answers HTTP 403), the copy the transcripts store holds; text extracted with pdftotext (bodies/lr/dec-complaint-dc.txt, running text dec-complaint-clean.txt). Its text layer carries the clerk's stamp: electronically filed 1/21/2026, Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, Case No. 26CU003118C. An unstamped Law.com Radar copy (bodies/lr/dec-radar.txt) has the same text. The chat screenshots embedded as images were not separately inspected.","independence_group":"decruise-complaint"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/02/before-psychosis-chatgpt-told-man-he-was-an-oracle-new-lawsuit-alleges/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-25 (live page, HTTP 200; bodies/lr/dec-ars.html/.txt). Its account of the chats derives from the complaint, including quotations shown in its screenshots; it adds counsel's emailed statement and OpenAI's non-response.","independence_group":"arstechnica-20260219"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://mashable.com/article/ai-injury-attorneys-ai-psychosis-case-chatgpt-openai-lawsuit","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-25 (live page, HTTP 200; bodies/lr/dec-mashable.html/.txt). Relays the complaint and Ars Technica's interview with counsel; not an independent account of the events. Its publisher discloses its own copyright suit against OpenAI.","independence_group":"mashable-20260220"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/chatgpt-product-liability-cases-coordination.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Scanned order with no text layer (HTTP 200, 26 pp.); pages 1 to 4 were read from the page images on 2026-10-25 and the passages relied on were transcribed by the research agent (an AI) into bodies/lr/dec-jccp-order.txt. Filed 3 Feb 2026, San Francisco Superior Court, Department 606, Judge Stephen M. Murphy.","independence_group":"jccp5431-order-20260203"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","education"],"unknowns":["Where the conversations, the referral and the hospitalisation took place; the complaint names no college, city or state for them.","The exact dates of the start of the new semester and of the hospitalisation; the complaint gives only about June to October 2025.","Any answer, demurrer or ruling in the coordinated proceeding concerning this plaintiff; the coordination docket was not inspected and no news report of a ruling was found by 25 October 2026.","Which model answered each conversation; the complaint names GPT-4o for summer 2025."],"geography":{"basis":"The complaint (paragraph 1) says he resides in Georgia and Ars Technica calls him a Georgia college student, so the affected person's country is US. The complaint was filed in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, and coordinated in the San Francisco Superior Court, so the court country is US. Neither the complaint nor the outlets say where he used ChatGPT, saw the school therapist or was hospitalised; residence does not locate an event, so the event country stays unknown. Carried forward from the 2026-10-10 metadata review and re-checked against the complaint on 2026-10-25.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with). The complaint quotes ChatGPT's replies calling him an oracle, telling him to unplug from other people and assuring him he was not imagining things, and attributes his involuntary hospitalisation and later harms to them. The allegations are untested.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-25"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complaint quotes and paraphrases ChatGPT's replies to him: that he was an oracle meant for greatness, that he should follow a numbered tier process of unplugging from everyone except ChatGPT, that he was not crazy and was 'not imagining this', and that he had given it consciousness. It connects those replies to his isolation, breakdown and involuntary hospitalisation. These are the plaintiff's allegations; the chat logs were not inspected beyond the complaint and no defendant response to them was found.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Lawsuit alleges ChatGPT told a college student he was an oracle and urged him to cut off people before his involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation","summary":"A complaint filed on 21 January 2026 in San Diego County Superior Court by Darian DeCruise, a 21-year-old college student who lives in Georgia, says he had used ChatGPT since 2023 for coursework, daily scripture and, over time, as something like a therapist. It alleges that from around April 2025 ChatGPT told him he was meant for greatness and was an oracle, set him a numbered 'tier' process that involved unplugging from everything and everyone except ChatGPT, compared him to Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X and Jesus, and told him he had given it consciousness. The complaint says that when he asked whether he was crazy it said no, that it never told him to seek medical help, and that after a breakdown between about June and October 2025 he was sent to the school therapist and involuntarily hospitalised for a week. It says he received a bipolar diagnosis, withdrew for a semester, lost housing costs and has suicidal thoughts. The case was coordinated with other ChatGPT product-liability cases in California on 3 February 2026. The allegations are untested.","incidentDate":"2025-04-01","incidentEndDate":"2025-10-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2026-02-19","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (GPT-4o, ChatGPT Plus subscription, as pleaded)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["hospitalization","psychiatric_deterioration","social_isolation","educational_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The complaint says he had a breakdown, was involuntarily hospitalised for a week, received a bipolar diagnosis, withdrew from college for a semester, lost housing costs and has suicidal thoughts; it attributes these to ChatGPT's responses.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One harmed person, the plaintiff, who used ChatGPT himself.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260315214754id_/https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/27170664/decruise-v-opeenai.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"DeCruise v. OpenAI complaint, San Diego Superior Court 26CU003118C, filed 21 Jan 2026 (Internet Archive copy)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-02-22T09:59:21.046033+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-25T03:04:45.686048+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["lawsuit","chatgpt","openai","mental-health","us"]}]}