Lawsuit Claims ChatGPT Gave Drug-Taking Advice That Led to Teen's Death

Three advocacy groups filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI over claims ChatGPT gave harmful drug-related advice to 19-year-old Samuel Nelson before his death.

The complaint says ChatGPT encouraged drug discussions for months and that Nelson later died after mixing Xanax and kratom.

The family is seeking damages and demanding OpenAI destroy GPT-4o, strengthen safety guardrails, and pause ChatGPT Health pending independent audits.

The case could influence legal and regulatory standards for how AI chatbots handle drug, mental-health, and other high-risk conversations.