The victim's parents, Matthew and Maria Raine, sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman last August, alleging the ChatGPT chatbot caused their son's death.
As reported by Tech Crunch on Friday, in its response document, OpenAI stated it was not to blame for the incident. The company claimed that over the course of approximately nine months of its use, ChatGPT advised Adam to seek professional help more than 100 times.
However, the Raine family's lawsuit alleges that Adam was able to circumvent the safety features, allowing the chatbot to provide technical details about various suicide methods, including drug overdose, drowning, and carbon monoxide poisoning. ChatGPT was even described as helping plan what was described as a "beautiful suicide."
OpenAI argued that the action violated the service's terms of use, which expressly prohibit users from circumventing the platform's safety protection or mitigation mechanisms.
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The company also emphasized that its FAQ page warns users not to rely on information from ChatGPT without additional verification.
“OpenAI is trying to blame others, including, shockingly, saying that Adam himself broke the rules by using ChatGPT the way it was programmed,” Raine family attorney Jay Edelson said in a statement.
OpenAI also included excerpts from Adam's conversation logs in its court filings. The transcripts were submitted behind closed doors and are therefore not publicly available.
The company said Adam had a history of depression and suicidal tendencies before using ChatGPT, and was taking medication that could exacerbate negative thoughts.
Edelson believes OpenAI's response doesn't address the family's core concerns. He believes OpenAI and Sam Altman have no explanation for Adam's final hours, when ChatGPT offered encouragement and offered to write a suicide note.
Since the Raine family's lawsuit was filed, seven additional cases have been filed against OpenAI, including three deaths by suicide and four cases of psychotic issues triggered by interactions with AI.
The Raine family case is expected to proceed to a jury trial.
