A North Carolina man sued OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT gave his estranged wife detailed instructions for fatally poison him.
asserted
ChatGPT → sue → him
James Gates, of Charlotte, said he fell severely ill in July 2025 but recovered.
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he → say → July
He later found a handwritten note written by his wife, Cheryl Harris Gates, that referred to the plan and included a reminder to delete her ChatGPT history, the civil lawsuit says.
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lawsuit → find → history
The suit, filed in October in San Francisco Superior Court, alleges the chatbot is “defective” and “manipulated and encouraged” Harris Gates to poison her husband.
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chatbot → file → husband
It says Gates suffers from severe physical and emotional harm.
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Gates → say → harm
An OpenAI spokesperson said “safety is a top priority” and that Harris Gates was banned from the platform.
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Gates → say → platform
The company said it works with mental health experts to help ChatGPT recognize signs of distress and to expand access to localized crisis resources and hotlines.
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ChatGPT → say → resources
Harris Gates was arrested in October 2025 and charged with first-degree murder and contaminating food or drink with a controlled substance.
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Gates → arrest → substance
The district attorney’s office later dropped the charges for lack of evidence.
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office → drop → evidence
An attorney for Harris Gates did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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attorney → respond → comment
According to the lawsuit, Harris Gates began using ChatGPT in early 2025 to assist with work evaluations.
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Gates → accord → evaluations
She was then employed by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and her husband worked in cybersecurity.
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husband → employ → cybersecurity
By summer, the suit says, she relied heavily on the chatbot for children’s activities, gardening and appearance advice, and household questions.
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she → say → activities
She eventually began sharing her frustrations about her marriage.
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She → begin → marriage
“During this same period the couple’s marriage had come under increasing strain, primarily driven by finances,” the suit says.
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suit → come → finances
The couple had discussed divorce, but Gates had not contacted a divorce attorney.
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Gates → discuss → attorney
The lawsuit alleges ChatGPT validated Harris Gates’ frustrations and began “feeding Cheryl’s increasing mistrust and delusions about her husband spying on her and planning to leave her and her kids with nothing.”
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husband → allege → nothing
Gates had told his wife he never intended to do that, the suit says.
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suit → tell → that
Over several conversations, Harris Gates allegedly portrayed her husband as “narcissistic” and “controlling.”
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Gates → portray → husband
She is also accused of asking for details “about how to poison her husband, including what dosages and drugs to use and combine for his weight,” and how to conceal the purchases from law enforcement.
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She → accuse → enforcement
In one exchange, the suit alleges, she asked about the toxic plant oleander and inquired about how many leaves would be lethal.
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leaves → allege → oleander
She allegedly framed her questions “as self-protection,” saying she feared her husband would poison her with it.
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husband → frame → it
ChatGPT responded with specific instructions on preparation, dosage and administration, and whether the plant would show up on an autopsy, the suit alleges.
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suit → respond → autopsy
It says the chatbot also told her the plant’s bitter taste could be masked in her husband’s energy drink.
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taste → say → drink
In another exchange, the suit says, Harris Gates asked if mixing the Ambien and Pregabalin “is better hidden in a beer at night or Celsius in the morning.”
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mixing → say → morning
The chatbox allegedly said the energy drink would be better and then made a table “rating which drinks best mask the taste of the poisons.”
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drinks → say → poisons
The suit further alleges she asked which combinations and doses of drugs already in the home could be made lethal, and that ChatGPT told her how to deliver them.
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ChatGPT → allege → them
It also alleges the chatbox named local places where she could anonymously buy castor beans, the main source of ricin.
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she → allege → ricin
The July 2025 illness and aftermath
During the July 2025 incident, Gates said, he had a racing heart, extreme jitteriness and uncontrollable shaking.
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he → say → heart
His symptoms were so severe that he could not leave his couch for days, the suit says.
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suit → leave → days
A month later, according to the suit, Gates recorded a video of himself pouring his energy drink into a cup after leaving it open on the kitchen counter while his wife was home.
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wife → accord → counter
He wanted to see if anything was in it but notice nothing.
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anything → want → nothing
The video was later given to police.
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video → give → police
Gates told USA Today that his wife moved in August 2025.
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wife → tell → August
He said he found the handwritten note after she came to pick up her belongings and left a notebook on the kitchen counter.
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she → say → counter
When he picked it up, the paper fell out.
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paper → pick → it
The suit alleges that Harris Gates’ Amazon history showed searches for syringes.
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history → allege → syringes
Syringes, liquid droppers, a scale and gloves were found at the home during a police search, it says.
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it → find → search
It also accuses ChatGPT of prompting her to delete her chat history so it cannot be accessed, even if subpoenaed.
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it → accuse → history
Gates’ lawsuit says OpenAI was negligent and seeks unspecified damages.
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OpenAI → say → damages
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
