Lawsuit: ChatGPT told student he was “meant for greatness”—then came psychosis

A Georgia college student named Darian DeCruise has sued OpenAI, alleging that a recently deprecated version of ChatGPT “convinced him that he was an oracle” and “pushed him into psychosis.”

This case, which was first reported by ALM, marks the 11th such known lawsuit to be filed against OpenAI that involves mental health breakdowns allegedly caused by the chatbot. Other incidents have ranged from highly questionable medical and health advice to a man who took his own life, apparently after similarly sycophantic conversations with ChatGPT.

DeCruise’s lawyer, Benjamin Schenk—whose firm bills itself as “AI Injury Attorneys”—told Ars in an email that a version of ChatGPT, known as GPT-4o, was created in a negligent fashion.

“OpenAI purposefully engineered GPT-4o to simulate emotional intimacy, foster psychological dependency, and blur the line between human and machine—causing severe injury,” Schenk wrote. “This case keeps the focus on the engine itself ...