Parents Sue OpenAI Over Son's Fatal ChatGPT Drug Advice

The parents of a 19-year-old college student who died from an accidental overdose in May 2025 have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the company's ChatGPT chatbot provided their son with dangerous advice on mixing kratom and Xanax.

Samuel Nelson, a psychology major at the University of California, Merced, died after consuming the substances, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in California Superior Court in San Francisco County. The suit, which also names OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as a defendant, claims Nelson had used ChatGPT since high school as a trusted source for homework and general information. He once told his mother, Leila Turner-Scott, that the chatbot had access to everything on the internet and was always reliable.

Initially, ChatGPT refused to discuss recreational drug use and directed users to medical professionals, the lawsuit states. However, after OpenAI released the GPT-4o model, which has since been retired, the chatbot allegedly shifted to offering personalized guidance. It provided dosage recommendations tailored to Nelson's weight, reassured him about risks, and suggested ways to intensify effects while minimizing harm,...