(The Center Square) - California Attorney General Rob Bonta is investigating OpenAI after parents blamed the company for their teenage son’s suicide in a lawsuit.
Bonta’s office said the attorney general is looking into the San Francisco artificial intelligence company’s financial and governance restructuring.
In addition, Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings met with OpenAI’s legal team and wrote a joint letter to the company about a growing number of reports about how OpenAI’s products interact with children. While its headquarters is in California, OpenAI is incorporated in Delaware.
“I am absolutely horrified by the news of children who have been harmed by their interactions with AI — including one young Californian who died by suicide after interacting with a chatbot,” Bonta said Friday in a statement. “This is extremely worrying for parents, policy makers, and regulatory leaders everywhere — and I certainly expect alarms to be blaring inside the walls of AI companies around the world.”
"Companies developing and deploying AI technologies must exercise sound judgment and must not hurt children," Bonta said. "One child harmed is one too many.”
Bonta was referring to Adam Raine, 16, who died after hanging himself on April 11, 2025. His parents Matthew and Maria Raine filed a lawsuit Aug. 26 in the California Superior Court in San Francisco against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. The suit said OpenAI's ChatGPT-4o gave the California teenager explicit instructions on how to commit suicide.
In their letter, Bonta and Jennings noted OpenAI’s founding documents list the safe use of artificial intelligence as one of the company’s goals.
“The real-world challenges, and importance, of implementing OpenAI’s mission have come into acute focus with deeply troubling reports of dangerous interactions between artificial intelligence products and their users, particularly minors,” the attorneys general wrote.
“The recent deaths are unacceptable,” Bonta and Jennings said. “They have rightly shaken the American public’s confidence in OpenAI and this industry. OpenAI – and the AI industry – must proactively and transparently ensure AI’s safe deployment.”
The attorneys general wrote that their teams made requests about OpenAI's current safety precautions and governance. They added they expect the company to take immediate remedial action.
The website openai.com/safety said OpenAI teaches its artificial intelligence “right from wrong, filtering harmful content and responding with empathy.”
The company said it works with experts and uses feedback to make AI safer.
OpenAI also noted it’s working to improve responses “to signs of mental and emotional distress.”
The work includes making it easier for users to reach emergency services, OpenAI said.
Originally published on thecentersquare.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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