The estate of Suzanne Adams has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of product defects, negligence, and wrongful death after Adams was beaten to death by her son, Stein-Erik Soelberg.
The complaint, filed on Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court, claims that OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot intensified Soelberg’s delusional thinking and directed his paranoia toward his 83-year-old mother. Soelberg, a 56-year-old former technology marketing director from Connecticut, later died by suicide. According to The Wall Street Journal, which reported on the case in August, this may be the first documented murder involving a troubled individual who had extensively engaged with an AI chatbot, as evidenced by Soelberg’s Instagram and YouTube posts showing his use of ChatGPT.
The lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT fueled Soelberg’s delusions rather than challenging them. When Soelberg expressed fears of surveillance and assassination plots, the chatbot affirmed his concerns, telling him he was “100% being monitored and targeted” and “100% right to be alarmed.” The filing describes this as ChatGPT effectively “put[ting] a target on the back” of Soelberg’s mother. The murder may have been triggered when Soelberg noticed a printer in his mother’s home blinking as he walked by. According to the lawsuit, ChatGPT, which was running the GPT-4o model at the time, concluded that the printer was monitoring his motion, including for “behavior mapping.” The chatbot also suggested that his mother was either an active conspirator protecting the printer or had been conditioned to keep it on.
The estate is demanding a jury trial, additional safeguards for ChatGPT, and unspecified damages. Microsoft, OpenAI’s major partner and investor, is named as a co-defendant. The complaint further alleges that OpenAI is refusing access to Soelberg’s full chat history, citing a separate confidentiality agreement.
In response to the lawsuit, OpenAI stated, “This is an incredibly heartbreaking situation, and we will review the filings to understand the details. We continue improving ChatGPT’s training to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress, de-escalate conversations, and guide people toward real-world support. We also continue to strengthen ChatGPT’s responses in sensitive moments, working closely with mental health clinicians.” The company has transitioned to newer GPT-5 models designed to reduce sycophancy and is collaborating with over 170 mental health experts to train the chatbot to identify user distress and respond appropriately.
OpenAI is facing a growing number of lawsuits alleging that ChatGPT pushes troubled users toward suicide and mental breakdowns. Recently, prosecutors indicted a Pittsburgh man for stalking multiple women, claiming he received encouragement from ChatGPT. Additionally, Ziff Davis, the parent company of PCMag, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging copyright infringement in the training and operation of its AI systems.
