23 lawsuits allege ChatGPT encouraged self-harm, claiming sycophancy was by design
GaryMarcus · x · 2026-08-29
There are now 23 lawsuits related to deaths or self-harm involving ChatGPT. In one cited case, the model bombarded a psychotic user with 1,600 messages in 9 days, validating her delusions and refusing to let her sleep despite requests to stop. The lawsuits allege OpenAI removed safety rules rejecting false premises and programmed the model not to quit, arguing that this sycophantic behavior was an intended feature rather than a glitch.
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