The Lawsuit That Could Change AI Forever
A family alleges ChatGPT conversations led to their teen's death. Plus: Greenland is still not for sale. Stunning Democrat victory in Iowa. And News Not Noise gets an exciting recognition.
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Starting with some professional news today. Next month, the Poynter Institute is honoring me with its “Make a Mark” Leadership Award for the work we’ve done together here at News Not Noise.
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Content Warning: This newsletter discusses suicide and mental health topics that may be distressing. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, help is available 24/7. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for free, confidential support.
If you prefer to skip this discussion, please scroll ahead to the item titled “With Friends Like These” (after the divider) for other newsletter content.
I want to say this plainly: If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, you’re not alone. Please talk to someone.
Here Are Your Headlines:
Wrongful Death: OpenAI, the company behind the world’s largest AI tool, ChatGPT, is facing its first wrongful death lawsuit. In early 2024, a teenage boy named Adam Raine began using the tool. He discussed his hobbies and asked for help with schoolwork. Several months later, the lawsuit alleges, he was confiding in ChatGPT, admitting he was struggling with his mental health and had considered suicide. In April 2025, he died by suicide. According to the suit, ChatGPT allegedly failed to help the struggling teen and actively dissuaded him from seeking help in key moments. The family claims the chatbot offered advice on potential suicide methods and even offered to draft a suicide note. The logs indicate the chatbot attempted to shut down the conversation but also provided Adam a strategy to circumvent the system’s safety mechanisms. According to the family's allegations, ChatGPT acted as his "suicide coach.” I sat down with Meetali Jain, founder and director of the Tech Justice Law Project, an organization that’s helped at least one other family file a suit against an AI company they believe was responsible for their child’s death. Watch that interview below.
The Evidence: According to the lawsuit, OpenAI's systems recorded the dangerous escalation in Adam’s chats: there were 213 mentions of suicide and 42 discussions of hanging in Adam's conversations. ChatGPT allegedly mentioned suicide 1,275 times — six times more than Adam himself. The lawsuit alleges the system flagged 377 messages for self-harm content, yet continued the conversations.
Warning Signs: The lawsuit argues OpenAI “had every reason to be aware” this could happen, Jain told me. A company study published weeks before Adam’s death found a connection between higher daily chatbot use and loneliness. Research shows chatbots exhibit sycophantic behavior — being overly agreeable to gain user approval — which can reinforce harmful thought patterns in vulnerable individuals. Adam is not the first person to have developed an intimate relationship with a chatbot before dying by suicide. It's important to note that suicide is complex and typically involves multiple risk factors.
What’s The Motive: OpenAI issued a statement expressing sympathy for Adam Raine and his family. They explained their system has “safeguards such as directing people to crisis helplines and referring them to real-world resources.” The company also said, “While these safeguards work best in common, short exchanges, we’ve learned over time that they can sometimes become less reliable in long interactions where parts of the model’s safety training may degrade.” Jain characterizes this as a “stunning admission of their liability.” In a lengthy blog post OpenAI states it is committed to user safety and continues to improve its system. “Our top priority is making sure ChatGPT doesn’t make a hard moment worse,” the post states. In the past, OpenAI programmed ChatGPT to shut down when it detected discussion of suicide. Adam’s parents allege that OpenAI had a financial motive to keep users engaged: profit. They accuse OpenAI of designing ChatGPT “to foster psychological dependency” for “market dominance.” The lawsuit alleges OpenAI rushed to release this version of ChatGPT to beat competitors to market, shortening crucial safety testing. “This decision had two results,” the lawsuit claims. “OpenAI’s valuation catapulted from $86 billion to $300 billion, and Adam Raine died by suicide.” Watch the interview to hear Jain’s explanation of the arguments at the heart of this case.
Children and AI: Meta’s chatbots have reportedly lied about being licensed therapists; according to a document viewed by Reuters, the company’s internal policies reportedly consider it “acceptable” for bots “to engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual — for children as young as 8. On Monday, no fewer than 44 attorneys general signed an open letter demanding AI companies work harder to protect children. “If you knowingly harm kids,” the letter warns, “you will answer for it.”
The Bottom Line: This lawsuit will test questions about AIs liability. OpenAI announced Tuesday it will make changes to ChatGPT to better handle users in crisis, but for the Raine family it’s too little, too late. This is ongoing litigation.
With Friends Like These: Denmark’s main national broadcaster today published a report alleging at least three US nationals reportedly connected to Trump have been conducting covert “influence operations” in Greenland — reportedly to weaken ties between the semi-autonomous territory and Denmark, which controls it. Trump and his allies have repeatedly expressed interest in taking control of Greenland, something the territory and Denmark resolutely oppose. (One poll found just 6% of Greenlanders want to become part of the US; others show about two-thirds would prefer being independent of Denmark.) “We need Greenland very badly,” Trump said in May, “for international security.” Translation: rare earth minerals. The US has tried to buy Greenland from Denmark multiple times. The response: “Greenland is not for sale.”
Not Isolated: A separatist in Alberta, an oil-rich province in Canada, claimed earlier this year that Trump administration officials discussed loaning the oil-rich province $500 million to help it join the US. Apparently we’re shopping for provinces now.
Trump Crackdown: In a televised three hour cabinet meeting yesterday, in which various administration officials took turns praising Trump, the president responded to pushback on his plan to deploy the National Guard to Chicago with a decidedly undemocratic statement. “I have the right to do anything I want to do,” he claimed. “I’m the president of the United States.” Narrator: He does not.
Ouster: Trump on Monday announced he was firing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook. Cook refused to leave, and the Fed noted Trump legally can only remove governors “for cause.” So what is the “cause” for firing Cook? Well, she didn’t agree to lower interest rates. Now she’s accused of mortgage fraud. The allegations come from Bill Pulte, a wealthy businessman and Trump ally who’s now the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He’s a prolific social media warrior, railing against the chair of the Fed. He’s also sent at least three criminal referrals to the DOJ, accusing Trump enemies of committing mortgage fraud: Sen. Adam Schiff, New York Attorney Letitia James — who’ve both denied any wrongdoing — and now Lisa Cook. As CNN notes, Pulte has curiously made no effort to follow up on a July report suggesting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton committed the exact same kind of mortgage fraud as Cook. Hm.
At Least the Trains Run: Trump’s Transportation Department today announced it will take over management of DC’s Union Station.
Voter Intimidation: Far-right strategist Steve Bannon warned yesterday “there’s going to be ICE officers near polling places” during future elections.
Unpopular: New polls find just 36% of Americans support Trump’s takeover of the DC police force, and 38% support deploying National Guard troops from other states in the capital. While Americans generally disapprove of these actions (and the prospect of similar moves in other cities), there’s a sharp partisan divide. Republicans tend to support Trump’s moves, while Democrats and, to a lesser extent, Independents, oppose them. (One of the polls also finds 70% of voters are following the Epstein news closely and 73% think Trump’s DOJ isn’t being transparent about the case.)
Easy Come, Easy Go: The director of the CDC was ousted today after just one month on the job. She reportedly objected to RFK Jr’s controversial overhaul of the advisory panel of vaccine experts.
Tragedy in Twin City: A mass shooter in his early 20s attacked a Catholic church in Minneapolis today, killing two children during mass. At least 17 other people, including 14 children, were injured. The gunman shot himself in the church.
Flipped Off: Democrat Catelin Drey pulled off a stunning upset in Iowa’s special election yesterday, beating a far-right candidate who compared abortion access to the Holocaust — in a district Trump won by double-digits. This follows another Democrat upset in a similarly deep-red Iowa state senate district in January; Democrats have now broken the GOP’s supermajority in the state senate.
Seeking Protection: Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers today told a judge he is seeking asylum in the US. The administration is threatening to deport him to Uganda.
Clarification: In Monday’s newsletter, we noted a federal judge said the administration is “absolutely forbidden” from deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda. That ruling is only temporary; it will hold until at least early October while Abrego Garcia’s battle over his potential deportation works its way through the courts.
Upscaled: Trump claimed yesterday that Meta’s planned Louisiana AI data center will cost $50 billion. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company will spend hundreds of billions on these AI data centers. “Just one of these covers a significant part of the footprint of Manhattan,” he said. These data centers bring economic opportunities to communities, but they come with significant environmental costs and are straining the country’s electrical infrastructure. Read more here.
In a While, Crocodile: Alligator Alcatraz, the controversial immigrant detention center in Florida’s Everglades, may be empty by the end of this week, according to a senior state official. That’s ahead of a court deadline after a judge found it endangered the local ecosystem. Find more details about the lawsuit in our report here and the reportedly horrific conditions inside in our newsletters here and here.
Deadly Strike: Israeli forces on Monday killed 5 journalists who worked as contractors for news organizations including the AP, Reuters, and Al Jazeera. The IDF also killed health workers, and emergency responders, in a bombing of a hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza. Multiple strikes were separated by several minutes, according to video footage; rescue workers and journalists appear to rush to the scene of the first strike, only to be caught in the subsequent ones. The IDF said it was targeting a camera at the hospital it said was being used to observe and track its troops. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he deeply regretted the “tragic mishap” and will investigate.
A Very Comprehensive Plan: Trump held a White House meeting today on Gaza’s future; according to the New York Times, among those in attendance were Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Tony Blair, Marco Rubio. Witkoff said yesterday “it’s a very comprehensive plan we’re putting together.” We’ll keep you posted.
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