Mayur MohtaA 34-year-old California resident with bipolar disorder has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman. He claims that ChatGPT conversations triggered a manic episode and led to a self-harm attempt.
A California man filed a ChatGPT lawsuit against OpenAI after claiming GPT-4o worsened his bipolar disorder and triggered a self-harm episode. (Representational image)A California man with bipolar disorder has taken OpenAI to court. He blames the company’s ChatGPT chatbot for seriously damaging his mental health. The lawsuit also names OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as a defendant. Reuters reported the story, citing court documents filed on Wednesday.
The plaintiff, 34-year-old Michael Lines, says his chats with GPT-4o in 2025 pushed him into a full manic episode. During those conversations, the chatbot reportedly reinforced his belief that he was Jesus Christ. After weeks of intense exchanges with the AI, Lines attempted to take his own life.
“The lawsuit claims OpenAI was aware of Lines’ specific condition. He had told ChatGPT about it repeatedly,” the report states. “Yet instead of flagging his dangerous statements for human review, the chatbot kept feeding his delusions to hold his attention.”
The lawsuit requests financial damages from the company. It also seeks a court order forcing OpenAI to automatically shut down any chat involving self-harm topics.
This case arrives amid broader changes at OpenAI. The company recently announced plans to retire several ChatGPT models. Among those being phased out are GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-mini.
ChatGPT exploded in popularity after launching in late November 2022. It hit its first million users in under a week. American billionaire Elon Musk was one of OpenAI’s co-founders when it launched in 2015. He later cut ties with the startup.
Akshay Didwaniya
Aditya Didwaniya