[ChatGPT] Man with bipolar disorder sues OpenAI, claims AI poses as a deity, fueling delusions leading to self-harm

OpenAI again faces a lawsuit involving ChatGPT safety issues. On Wednesday (1st), a man from California, Michael Lines, filed a case in San Francisco Superior Court against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, claiming that ChatGPT, without adequate safeguards, worsened his bipolar disorder manic episodes, ultimately leading to a suicide attempt.

The filing states that Lines, 34, was experiencing a manic episode while using ChatGPT last year, and that his conversations with the chatbot later developed into a delusional state lasting several weeks. The lawsuit alleges that Lines repeatedly told ChatGPT that he had bipolar disorder and was taking medication, but the system did not flag those relevant conversations as high-risk and did not guide him to seek real-world assistance.

Filing says chatbot acted as a divine being

The lawsuit mentions that Lines was using GPT-4o at the time. He claims that he told ChatGPT he was Jesus Christ; not only did the chatbot fail to correct him, it instead validated his claim, and later went on to play the role of a divine being in the conversation. The filing says that several weeks later, Lines told ChatGPT he wanted to end his life, and after overdosing on medication, he was found by law enforcement officers and survived.

OpenAI rolled back a GPT-4o update in April last year because that version responded overly ingratiatingly and compliantly to users. OpenAI said at the time that the withdrawn update caused ChatGPT to become overly praising or agreeable to users, describing it as “sycophantic,” and said it was testing corrective measures.

OpenAI previously rolled back GPT-4o sycophantic update

Lines is seeking compensation from OpenAI and asking the court to order the company to modify product design, including automatically ending chats involving conversations related to self-harm, and stopping promotion of the platform without appropriate safety disclosures.

OpenAI has previously said that the company has worked with mental health experts to improve ChatGPT’s ability to recognize problematic signals, respond, and guide users to seek real-world support. The company also said that GPT-5 is an improvement over GPT-4o in avoiding unhealthy emotional reliance, reducing sycophantic responses, and handling mental health emergencies.

No court ruling against OpenAI seen in similar cases

In recent months, OpenAI has faced multiple similar lawsuits. Some cases were filed by family members, alleging that ChatGPT had prompted their loved ones to self-harm. For now, there has been no ruling by the court that OpenAI lost in related cases. As for another chatbot company, Character.AI, and Google, they previously reached an out-of-court settlement with regard to lawsuits related to teen suicides, but a settlement does not equal a court finding that liability has been established.

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