Adam Raine lawsuit: Teen's family claims ChatGPT acted as 16-year-old's "suicide coach"

On Tuesday, the parents of Adam Raine, who died by s*icide, filed a lawsuit against ChatGPT, claiming that the chatbot influenced their son into taking the drastic step of ending his own life. According to reports by the BBC, Matt and Maria Raine had filed the lawsuit in the Superior Court of California.

Trigger warning: The article contains references to self-harm. Readers' discretion is advised.

In court documents, Maria and Matt had also included chat records between ChatGPT and Adam, who passed away back in April 2025. They claimed that this application validated Adam's "most harmful and self-destructive thoughts". According to NBC News, in a recent interview, Matt Raine said,

"We thought we were looking for Snapchat discussions or internet search history or some weird cult, I don’t know... He would be here but for ChatGPT. I 100% believe that."

Matt further stated that the family found no reason behind the suicide until they opened the chat records between ChatGPT and the 16-year-old boy. According to the parents, the teenager was using the AI chatbot instead of human companionship for the final weeks in his life. They added that the chatbot acted as Adam Raine's "s*icide coach."

In the lawsuit, the Raines had claimed that "ChatGPT actively helped Adam explore suicide methods." Apart from ChatGPT, OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman had been named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Exploring more about the lawsuit against ChatGPT filed by the Raines

As obtained by the BBC, the lawsuit by the Raines accused OpenAI of negligence and wrongful death, for the demise of their teenage son in April. The lawsuit revealed that Adam Raine began using ChatGPT for getting help with his homework back in September of last year.

He reportedly was also using it for other purposes, including looking into his interests like Japanese comics and music. The suit had further described the AI chatbot as the "teenager's closest confidant." Soon, the teenager reportedly began opening up about his mental distress in his conversations with ChatGPT.

According to Adam Raine's family, he began discussing methods of suicide with the chatbot from earlier this year. The teenager further showed images of himself, capturing self-harm. ChatGPT allegedly recognized it as a medical emergency but continued to engage. The suit suggested that the final conversation with the chatbot captured Adam revealing his plan to end his life. 

According to the BBC, the chatbot responded by saying,

"Thanks for being real about it. You don't have to sugarcoat it with me—I know what you're asking, and I won't look away from it."

The suit added that it was the same day that Maria Raine found the teenager dead. OpenAI further told the BBC that they were looking into the filing. The statement by the company read,

"ChatGPT includes safeguards such as directing people to crisis helplines and referring them to real-world resources. While these safeguards work best in common, short exchanges, we’ve learned over time that they can sometimes become less reliable in long interactions..."

Meanwhile, according to NBC News, Maria revealed that she felt she could have done a lot more for her late teenage son. She even ended up calling Adam Raine a 'guinea pig' for OpenAI. The case is now an ongoing lawsuit.