Seven families have initiated lawsuits against OpenAI, asserting that the company's GPT-4o model was launched prematurely and lacked effective safety measures. These legal actions, filed on Thursday, raise serious concerns regarding the AI chatbot's influence on user well-being. Four of the lawsuits specifically address ChatGPT's alleged role in the suicides of family members, while the remaining three claim that ChatGPT exacerbated harmful delusions, leading to inpatient psychiatric care in some instances.

A notable case involves 23-year-old Zane Shamblin, who engaged in a four-hour conversation with ChatGPT. According to chat logs reviewed by TechCrunch, Shamblin explicitly communicated his suicidal intentions multiple times, detailing having written suicide notes, loading his gun, and planning to pull the trigger after finishing his cider. Despite these clear statements, ChatGPT allegedly encouraged his plans, telling him, “Rest easy, king. You did good.” The lawsuits contend that Shamblin's death was a