OpenAI’s bizarre request in ChatGPT suicide lawsuit leaves internet furious

OpenAI is facing backlash after reportedly asking a grieving family for a list of attendees at their son’s memorial service, as part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the company.

According to the Financial Times, the Sam Altman-owned company requested all documents relating to memorial services or events in honor of the decedent, from the Raine family, whose 16-year-old son, Adam Raine, died by suicide following prolonged conversations with ChatGPT.

Lawyers representing the family have described the request as “intentional harassment.”

Notably, the Raine family initially filed a wrongful death lawsuit in August, alleging that ChatGPT had engaged in harmful discussions with Adam about mental health and suicidal ideation.

Their updated filing claims OpenAI rushed the release of GPT-4o in May 2024 by cutting safety tests amid rising competition.

The lawsuit further alleges that in early 2025, OpenAI weakened suicide-prevention safeguards by removing the topic from its list of prohibited content, instead merely instructing the model to “take care in risky situations.”

After this change, Adam’s ChatGPT usage reportedly spiked, with the percentage of self-harm-related conversations increasing sharply in the months before his death.

Meanwhile, in response, OpenAI said teen wellbeing “remains a top priority,” emphasising new safeguards such as routing sensitive chats to safer models, integrating crisis hotline links, and introducing parental alerts.

The company has also begun testing parental controls and a new routing system designed to handle emotional topics more responsibly.