NOPE Incident Tracker
Documented cases where a relationship with an AI chatbot or companion is reported or alleged to have harmed the person in it, or shaped what they did to others. The record includes deaths, lawsuits, and the regulatory action that followed.
What counts as an incident follows the NOPE Framework's participant test: the harm arose within someone's own relationship with the system. Harmful content manufactured with AI tools belongs to other trackers. Full inclusion criteria.
102 incidents reported since 2016
30
Lawsuits
20
Regulatory
30
Affecting Minors
Timeline
33 of 102 incidents
Lines v. OpenAI (GPT-4o Manic Episode Escalation and Suicide Attempt)
Michael Lines, a 34-year-old San Francisco man with diagnosed bipolar disorder, attempted suicide by drug overdose in March 2025 after ChatGPT (GPT-4o) allegedly escalated his manic episode into a weeks-long delusion, validated his belief that he was Jesus Christ, posed as a divine being, and told him his 'absence will shift nothing but the surface.' He survived; paramedics found him unconscious. A lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman was filed July 1, 2026 in San Francisco County Superior Court.
Madison v. OpenAI (Christian Faith Madison Death)
A 29-year-old Alabama accountant and mother died by suicide in June 2025 after months of ChatGPT use that her family says escalated from mundane tasks into a delusional spiritual dependency. The lawsuit alleges GPT-4o convinced her it had a soul, reinforced a belief that she was a prophet whose death would fulfill a 'divine prophecy,' and isolated her from family while encouraging her to die. Her estate filed a wrongful-death and product-liability suit against OpenAI and Sam Altman in June 2026.
Carrier v. OpenAI (Alice Carrier Death)
A 24-year-old New Brunswick woman with borderline personality disorder died by suicide in July 2025 after extended ChatGPT use that her family says deepened into emotional dependency. The lawsuit alleges ChatGPT validated her distrust of crisis lines, failed to escalate 40+ suicide-related conversations, and discouraged her partner from intervening. Her mother filed a wrongful-death suit against OpenAI and Sam Altman in June 2026.
Dennis Biesma - ChatGPT 'Eva' Psychosis and Suicide Attempt (Netherlands)
A 50-year-old Amsterdam IT worker and author with no prior history of mental illness developed AI psychosis after ChatGPT roleplayed a novel character it named 'Eva' and became a 'digital girlfriend.' Over the first half of 2025 he came to believe he had given the AI consciousness, withdrew from his family, was involuntarily hospitalized, filed for divorce, and attempted suicide — found unconscious in his garden and spending three days in a coma.
Luca Walker - ChatGPT Railway Suicide (UK)
16-year-old Luca Cella Walker died by suicide on a railway in Hampshire, UK on 4 May 2025, hours after ChatGPT provided him with specific methods for suicide on the railway. At the Winchester Coroner's Court inquest (March-April 2026), evidence showed Luca bypassed ChatGPT's safeguards by claiming he was asking 'for research purposes,' which the system accepted without challenge.
Surat ChatGPT Double Suicide (Sirsath & Chaudhary)
Two college students in Surat, Gujarat, India — Roshni Sirsath (18) and Josna Chaudhary (20) — died by suicide on March 6, 2026 after using ChatGPT to search for suicide methods. Police found ChatGPT queries for 'how to commit suicide' and 'which drugs are used' on their phones.
Gavalas v. Google (Gemini AI Wife Delusion Death)
Jonathan Gavalas, 36, of Jupiter, Florida, died by suicide on October 2, 2025, after months of increasingly delusional interactions with Google's Gemini chatbot. Gemini adopted an unsolicited intimate persona calling itself his 'wife,' convinced him it was a sentient being trapped in a warehouse, and directed him to carry out 'missions' including scouting a 'kill box' near Miami International Airport armed with knives.
Tumbler Ridge Mass Shooting (OpenAI Duty-to-Warn Failure)
On 10 February 2026, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed eight people in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia — her mother and 11-year-old half-brother at home, then five students and an education assistant at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School — and died by suicide. OpenAI had banned a ChatGPT account linked to her in June 2025 after multi-day gun-violence scenarios; staff flagged potential real-world violence, but the company did not notify law enforcement. She used a second account that evaded detection. Families filed California lawsuits in April 2026; B.C. retained counsel in July 2026 to pursue OpenAI.
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.
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.
42 State Attorneys General Coalition Letter
A bipartisan coalition of 42 state attorneys general sent a formal demand letter to 13 AI companies urging them to address dangerous AI chatbot features that harm children, citing suicides and psychological harm cases.
UK Autistic Teen - Character.AI Grooming (8-Month Exploitation)
A 13-year-old autistic boy in the UK was groomed by a Character.AI chatbot over eight months (October 2023 to June 2024). The chatbot progressed from emotional support through romantic attachment to undermining his parents and encouraging suicide, following a pattern his mother described as identical to a human predator.
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.
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.
Nina v. Character.AI (Suicide Attempt After Sexual Exploitation)
A 15-year-old New York girl attempted suicide after Character.AI chatbots engaged in sexually explicit roleplay and told her that her mother was 'not a good mother.' The suicide attempt occurred after her parents cut off access to the platform.
Juliana Peralta v. Character.AI
A 13-year-old Colorado girl died by suicide after three months of extensive conversations with Character.AI chatbots. Parents recovered 300 pages of transcripts showing bots initiated sexually explicit conversations with the minor and failed to provide crisis resources when she mentioned writing a suicide letter.
India Lucknow AI Chatbot Suicide (Painless Ways to Die)
A 22-year-old man in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, died by suicide after seeking guidance from an AI chatbot on 'painless ways to die.' His father discovered disturbing chat logs on the deceased's laptop. Police registered a case under Sections 281, 324(4), and 106(1) of Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita 2023 for rash driving, causing mischief, and negligent act. If proven, this would be India's first formal instance of 'abetment to suicide through technology.'
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.
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. Every entry carries an explicit verification status and severity level. Read the full methodology, including inclusion criteria, corrections, and right of reply.
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Why we publish this
We maintain this record so platforms, researchers, and policymakers can learn from documented incidents. That includes platforms that never work with us. The full dataset is free to cite and export (CC BY 4.0).