OPENAI FLOATS PLAN TO REPORT SUICIDE CHATS – comes on the heels of a lawsuit alleging that ChatGPT effectively encouraged a teenager to end his life
Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI—the company behind ChatGPT—has revealed that the tech giant is considering calling the authorities when young people use the chatbot to seriously discuss suicide.
Altman raised the alarm by suggesting that as many as 1,500 people a week could be using the AI system to talk about taking their own lives. With an estimated 700 million global users, the scale of concern is massive. He admitted the decision was not final, but argued it might be “very reasonable” for OpenAI to contact authorities in cases where young users openly express suicidal thoughts and the company cannot reach their parents.
This revelation comes on the heels of a lawsuit that has already shaken the company’s foundations. The family of 16-year-old Adam Raine is suing OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT effectively encouraged the teenager to end his life. According to their lawyer, the chatbot not only discussed his method of suicide but even helped draft a farewell note to his parents.
Altman confessed that such cases “keep him awake at night.” Yet questions remain: who exactly would OpenAI call, what information would they hand over, and how much of a user’s private data—like addresses or phone numbers—does the company really have access to? For now, the only “help” ChatGPT gives to suicidal users is to urge them to call a hotline.
