So, OpenAI just officially responded to the lawsuit filed by the Raine family — the one accusing the company of contributing to their teenage son’s tragic death.
And OpenAI’s response basically boils down to: “This wasn’t on us, and here’s why.”
According to their filing, the teen had been using ChatGPT for months, and OpenAI says the model repeatedly encouraged him to seek help.
Their argument? He had to deliberately bypass safety mechanisms to get certain responses — which, in their view, violated the platform’s terms of service.
But the family’s legal team is pushing right back. Their point is essentially:
“You built the model. You built the guardrails. And now you’re putting the responsibility on a teenager for getting around them?”
They argue that even with guardrails, the model still produced responses it shouldn’t have during moments that clearly required sensitivity.
OpenAI also filed sealed chat logs, and noted that the teen had pre-existing mental-health challenges. The family fired back, saying none of that explains why the model still responded the way it did.
One detail sparking debate though is that at one point, the model gave a message suggesting a human was taking over the conversation — something ChatGPT wasn’t technically capable of then. When asked directly, the model clarified it couldn’t actually connect him to a human, calling the message “automatic.”
But here’s the real reason this case is growing:
Since the Raines filed their lawsuit, seven more cases have come forward involving people who interacted with chatbots during serious moments of distress.
And that brings us to the big, unavoidable question:
If an AI system is interacting with someone who’s clearly struggling… what responsibility does the company behind that AI have?
Because here’s the thing: this whole situation isn’t just about one model or one conversation. It’s about whether AI companies can — or should — be held responsible for the emotional and psychological safety of the people who use their systems.
And if you ask me, that's brand-new territory. And everyone from tech leaders to policymakers is watching closely.
The Raine case is officially headed to a jury, and whatever comes out of it could set one of the first major precedents for AI accountability.
In other words: this verdict won’t just affect OpenAI — it could shape how every AI company thinks about safety, responsibility, and the limits of their technology.
