OpenAI denies ChatGPT was responsible for California teenager's suicide

Multiple US media reports say OpenAI has rejected allegations that ChatGPT was to blame for the suicide of a 16-year-old high school student in California.

In August, the teenager's parents sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, saying that ChatGPT effectively gave their son a step-by-step playbook for ending his life quickly, and offered to write the first draft of his suicide note.

In a court filing on Tuesday, the artificial intelligence startup defended itself against the lawsuit that accused ChatGPT of coaching the teenager to kill himself.

Bloomberg says that in the court filing, OpenAI called the student's death "a tragedy" but said a "full reading of his chat history shows that his death, while devastating, was not caused by ChatGPT."

OpenAI pointed out that the teenager told the chatbot that "for several years before he ever used ChatGPT, he exhibited multiple risk factors for self-harm, including, among others, recurring suicidal thoughts."

OpenAI also said that ChatGPT directed the teenager more than 100 times to seek help from "crisis resources and trusted individuals."

Other bereaved families have filed similar lawsuits in the United States, arguing that interactions with AI chatbots might have led to the suicide of their children.

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