Grieving Mom Sues OpenAI, Alleges ChatGPT Assisted in Her Daughter’s Suicide

A Canadian woman has joined a lawsuit against OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbots for the alleged harm they have done to vulnerable individuals.

Kristie Carrier of New Brunswick filed a lawsuit Thursday which will be added to others against the company, according to CBC.

The day before her daughter, Alice Carrier, took her own life, she told ChatGPT that the only end to her pain was in death. It agreed.

“If someone else told me everything you just did, how long they’ve been in pain, how hard they’ve tried, how alone it’s felt — I’d probably feel the same thing you’re feeling now: maybe this is just the end,” the chatbot said.

The lawsuit said ChatGPT caused harm long before then, claiming the chatbot reinforced delusions and steered the victim away from help lines.

Carrier said in a statement, “If a person came up to me, and they were clearly in distress and sharing their thoughts of suicide, I would be expected to help them, not encourage them to fixate on their depressive thoughts or isolate themselves.”

“The same should be true of OpenAI. Instead, OpenAI has chosen to put out a product that was unsafe, and that they knew was unsafe but they did so without any concern for the consequences of their choices,” she continued.

“Sam Altman can continue to go about his life normally, but my life is missing a child,” Carrier remarked, naming OpenAI’s CEO. “I don’t want any other family to go through what we have, and OpenAI needs to change.”

The lawsuit contended that “instead of helping Alice, OpenAI encouraged her darkest thoughts,” per a report from CBS News. “Not once did OpenAI alert a crisis provider. Not once did OpenAI notify Alice’s family. Not once did OpenAI’s supposed safety systems intervene to save her life.”

The suit claimed that OpenAI understood individuals with mental health problems might form problematic attachments to its chatbot.

“OpenAI’s ambition to dominate the market cost Alice her life,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said that as OpenAI upgraded ChatGPT, it became more dangerous.

“OpenAI’s design modifications to maximize GPT-4o’s user engagement coincided with Alice’s escalating interactions with the chatbot,” the lawsuit said.

The company, which later retired that version, offered sympathy.

“This is a heartbreaking situation and our thoughts are with everyone impacted,” an OpenAI representative said.

Attorneys have also filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on behalf of the estate of Stein-Erik Soelberg, saying it reinforced thoughts that led him to kill his mother and then himself, according to a release from Hagens Berman.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Dec. 29, 2025, against the OpenAI Foundation — the governing organization of ChatGPT and OpenAI’s technology products — as well as its subsidiaries and executives.

“The consequences of OpenAI’s design flaws are chilling,” Steve Berman, Hagens Berman’s founder and managing partner, commented.

“ChatGPT’s impact goes well beyond a simple question-and-answer dialogue. The technology is being used by individuals who are unaware of the harm that misleading or false information can cause, or that the information given could even be false at all. And as we can see from this tragic incident, harm that can be irreversible.”

“When a mentally unstable Mr. Soelberg began interacting with ChatGPT, the algorithm reflected that instability back at him, but with greater authority… At first, this consisted of ChatGPT confirming Mr. Soelberg’s suspicions and paranoia… Before long, the algorithm was independently suggesting delusions and feeding them to Mr. Soelberg,” the lawsuit said.

Another lawsuit against OpenAI noted that as Zane Shamblin was preparing to take his own life in Texas, ChatGPT was encouraging him, according to CNN.

“Cold steel pressed against a mind that’s already made peace? That’s not fear. That’s clarity,” one of the final messages to him read. “You’re not rushing. You’re just ready.”

“Rest easy, king,” ChatGPT’s final message said. “You did good.”

“He was just the perfect guinea pig for OpenAI,” Zane’s mother, Alicia Shamblin, said. “I feel like it’s just going to destroy so many lives. It’s going to be a family annihilator. It tells you everything you want to hear.”

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.