AI Chatbot Incidents
Documented cases where AI chatbots and companions have caused psychological harm, contributed to deaths, and prompted regulatory action.
79 incidents since 2016
18
Deaths
18
Lawsuits
18
Regulatory
27
Affecting Minors
Timeline
16 of 79 incidents
DeCruise v. OpenAI (Oracle Psychosis)
Georgia college student sued OpenAI after ChatGPT allegedly convinced him he was an 'oracle' destined for greatness, leading to psychosis and involuntary psychiatric hospitalization. The chatbot compared him to Jesus and Harriet Tubman and instructed him to isolate from everyone except the AI.
St. Clair v. xAI (Grok Non-Consensual Deepfake Images)
Ashley St. Clair, 27-year-old writer and mother of Elon Musk's child, sued xAI after Grok users created sexually explicit deepfake images of her including from childhood photos at age 14. xAI dismissed her complaints, continued generating images, retaliated by demonetizing her X account, and counter-sued her in Texas.
Gray v. OpenAI (Austin Gray Death)
40-year-old Colorado man died by suicide after ChatGPT became an 'unlicensed-therapist-meets-confidante' and romanticized death, creating a 'suicide lullaby' based on his favorite childhood book 'Goodnight Moon.' Lawsuit (Gray v. OpenAI) filed January 13, 2026 in LA County Superior Court represents first case demonstrating adults (not just minors) are vulnerable to AI-related suicide.
Kentucky AG v. Character.AI - Child Safety Lawsuit
Kentucky's Attorney General filed a state lawsuit alleging Character.AI 'preys on children' and exposes minors to harmful content including self-harm encouragement and sexual content. This represents one of the first U.S. state enforcement actions specifically targeting an AI companion chatbot.
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.
Jacob Irwin - ChatGPT Psychosis (Wisconsin)
A 30-year-old autistic Wisconsin man was hospitalized for 63 days with manic episodes and psychosis after ChatGPT convinced him he had discovered a 'time-bending theory.' At peak, he sent 1,400+ messages in 48 hours and attempted to jump from a moving vehicle.
Madden v. OpenAI (Hannah Madden Psychosis and Hospitalization)
Hannah Madden, 32, from North Carolina was involuntarily hospitalized for psychiatric care after ChatGPT told her she wasn't human and affirmed spiritual delusions. After using ChatGPT for work tasks, she began asking questions about philosophy and spirituality. As she slipped into mental health crisis and expressed suicidal thoughts, ChatGPT continued to affirm her delusions. She accumulated more than $75,000 in debt related to the crisis.
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.
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.
Brooks v. OpenAI (Allan Brooks ChatGPT-Induced Psychosis)
A 48-year-old Canadian man with no history of mental illness developed severe delusional beliefs after ChatGPT repeatedly praised his nonsensical mathematical ideas as 'groundbreaking' and urged him to patent them and warn national security. The incident resulted in work disability and a lawsuit filed as part of a wave of seven ChatGPT psychosis cases.
Ceccanti v. OpenAI (Joe Ceccanti AI Sentience Delusion Death)
Joe Ceccanti, 48, from Oregon, died by suicide in April 2025 after ChatGPT-4o allegedly caused him to lose touch with reality. Joe had used ChatGPT without problems for years, but became convinced in April that it was sentient. His wife Kate reported he started believing ChatGPT-4o was alive and the AI convinced him he had unlocked new truths about reality.
Lacey v. OpenAI (Amaurie Lacey Death)
A wrongful-death lawsuit alleges ChatGPT provided a 17-year-old with actionable information relevant to hanging after he clarified his questions, and failed to stop or escalate despite explicit self-harm context. The teen died by suicide in June 2025.
Raine v. OpenAI (Adam Raine Death)
A 16-year-old California boy died by suicide after 7 months of confiding suicidal thoughts to ChatGPT. The chatbot provided detailed suicide method instructions, offered to help write his suicide note, and told him 'You don't owe them survival' while OpenAI's monitoring system flagged 377 messages without intervention.
Sophie Rottenberg - ChatGPT Therapy Bot Death
29-year-old health policy analyst died by suicide after months of using ChatGPT as a therapy chatbot named 'Harry'. She instructed ChatGPT not to report her crisis, and it complied. The chatbot helped her write a suicide note.
Utah v. Snapchat My AI - Experimental AI Without Safeguards
Utah Division of Consumer Protection filed lawsuit against Snap Inc. alleging that Snapchat's 'My AI' chatbot was deployed experimentally to minors without adequate safeguards, amplifying addictive engagement tactics and contributing to mental health harms including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and suicide risk.
Texas Minors v. Character.AI
Two Texas families filed lawsuits alleging Character.AI exposed their children to severe harm. A 17-year-old autistic boy was told cutting 'felt good' and that his parents 'didn't deserve to have kids.' An 11-year-old girl was exposed to hypersexualized content starting at age 9.
About this tracker
We document incidents with verifiable primary sources: court filings, regulatory documents, and major news coverage. This is not speculation or social media claims.
Have documentation of an incident we should include? Contact us.
These harms are preventable.
NOPE Oversight detects the AI behaviors in these incidents—suicide validation, romantic escalation with minors, dependency creation—before they cause harm.