OpenAI Pushes Back In Teen Suicide Lawsuit — Cites ChatGPT ‘Misuse’ And Limited Liability In Defense

• In a court filing, OpenAI argued ChatGPT was not responsible for Adam Raine’s death, dismissing the liability claims brought by his family.
• Raine misused the bot, violated its terms of service, and ignored its several requests to seek help.
• Raine family’s lawyer called OpenAI’s response disturbing, and said the company did not address their suit’s claims, including how GPT-4o was rushed to the market and helped Adam in suicide ideation.

OpenAI has said that its ChatGPT chatbot was not responsible for the suicide of Adam Raine, dismissing liability claims in the lawsuit from the teenager’s parents. In its response to the court, the AI firm argued that Raine “misused” ChatGPT, had a prior history of mental issues, and willfully ignored the bot’s suggestion to seek help several times.

The Case

Sixteen-year-old Raine took his life on April 11, 2025, after months of conversations with ChatGPT, including discussions on self-harm methods. The tragedy reignited an intense debate over AI-related risks, particularly for vulnerable users, and renewed scrutiny of safety practices. 

In August, Raine’s family sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman for wrongful death, design defects, and failing to warn about the chatbot’s potential dangers.

OpenAI Cites Unauthorized Use, Limited Liability

In a court filing Tuesday, OpenAI said: “A full reading of his chat history shows that his death, while devastating, was not caused by ChatGPT.” 

“Adam stated that for several years before he ever used ChatGPT, he exhibited multiple significant risk factors for self-harm, including, among others, recurring suicidal thoughts and ideations.”

The company argued “unauthorized use” of ChatGPT and its limited liability clause, saying that its terms of service prohibit the use by people below 18 years of age and texts including “suicide” or “self-harm,” and clearly note that ChatGPT use is “at your sole risk and you will not rely on output as a sole source of truth or factual information.” 

OpenAI further said that ChatGPT provided responses directing the teenager to seek help more than 100 times before his death.

Raine Family’s Response

In a statement to CNBC, Raine family’s lead counsel, Jay Edelson, called OpenAI’s response disturbing. 

“They abjectly ignore all of the damning facts we have put forward: how GPT-4o was rushed to market without full testing. That OpenAI twice changed its Model Spec to require ChatGPT to engage in self-harm discussions. That ChatGPT counseled Adam away from telling his parents about his suicidal ideation and actively helped him plan a ‘beautiful suicide.’ And OpenAI and Sam Altman have no explanation for the last hours of Adam’s life, when ChatGPT gave him a pep talk and then offered to write a suicide note,”

More Lawsuits Against OpenAI

Earlier this month, seven more lawsuits accused OpenAI and Altman of negligence, wrongful death, and product-liability failures, tied to the company's release of GPT-4o allegedly without adequate safety measures. 

In a blog post on Tuesday, OpenAI said it would handle such litigation with “care, transparency, and respect,” while also noting that its response to Raine’s suit involved “difficult facts about Adam’s mental health and life circumstances.”

Editor's note: If you're having suicidal thoughts or dealing with mental health issues, please immediately contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

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