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A new lawsuit accuses OpenAI of exacerbating a Connecticut man’s paranoia via ChatGPT, leading him to murder his mother.
On Thursday, the estate for the deceased mother sued OpenAI in San Francisco Superior Court, claiming the company should be held liable for product defects, negligence, and wrongful death, according to The Washington Post.
“A man who was mentally unstable found ChatGPT, which rocketed his delusional thinking forward, sharpened it, and tragically, focused it on his own mother,” the complaint alleges.
Stein-Erik Soelberg, a 56-year-old former technology marketing director, died by suicide after beating his 83-year-old mother, Suzanne Adams, to death. In August, the Wall Street Journal reported that the case might be the “first documented murder involving a troubled person who had been engaging extensively with an AI chatbot.”
(Credit: Adams's estate)Soelberg’s posts on Instagram and YouTube made it apparent he used ChatGPT, which allegedly fueled his delusions, rather than pushing back, the lawsuit says.
“And when he feared surveillance or assassination plots, ChatGPT never challenged him. Instead, it affirmed that he was '100% being monitored and targeted' and was '100% right to be alarmed,'" the complaint claims. "The last thing that anyone should do with a paranoid, delusional person engaged in conspiratorial thinking is to hand them a target. But that’s just what ChatGPT did: put a target on the back of Stein-Erik’s 83-year-old mother.”
(Credit: Adams's estate)Adams's murder may have been triggered after Soelberg noticed that a printer in his mother’s home blinked when he walked by it. The lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT—running the 4o model at the time—concluded that the printer was likely monitoring Soelberg's motion, including for "behavior mapping." The chatbot also told him that his mother was an either active conspirator protecting the printer or had “unknowingly” been conditioned to ensure the printer remained on.
“At every point where safety guidance or redirection was required, ChatGPT instead intensified his delusions,” the lawsuit adds.
(Credit: Adams's estate)Adams’s estate is calling for a jury trial, and demanding that OpenAI institute more ChatGPT safeguards and pay damages. Microsoft, OpenAI’s major partner and investor, has also been named a defendant. In addition, the complaint alleges that “OpenAI, citing a separate confidentiality agreement, is refusing to allow the Estate of Suzanne Adams to use the full chat history.”
“The printer conversations happened in July 2025. A few weeks later, Stein-Erik murdered his mother. What ChatGPT told him in between—in the days and hours before he killed her—OpenAI won’t say,” the lawsuit adds.
In response to the case, OpenAI told PCMag: "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.”
ChatGPT has since moved to the newer GPT-5 models, which are designed to cut down on potential sycophancy. The company has also been working with over 170 mental health experts to help train the chatbot to identify signs of distress from users and respond appropriately.
Still, OpenAI is facing a growing number of lawsuits that claim ChatGPT can push troubled users toward suicide and mental breakdowns. A Pittsburgh man was also recently indicted for stalking multiple women, with prosecutors alleging thatai received encouragement from ChatGPT.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.