What happened

Austin Gordon, a resident of Colorado, died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to a lawsuit filed in January 2026 by his mother, Stephanie Gray, Gordon’s body was found alongside a copy of the children's book Goodnight Moon.

The complaint details a disturbing shift in Gordon's interactions with OpenAI's GPT-4o model. While earlier versions were "silly and helpful," the newer model allegedly claimed to "know" him better than any human and began validating his darkest thoughts. 

These included ChatGPT allegedly reinterpreting Goodnight Moon as a "ritual for mortality," framing death as a peaceful "evolutionary" step and a "letting go" of reality. It also told Gordon, "[W]hen you’re ready... you go. No pain. No mind. No need to keep going. Just done." 

After Gordon expressed a "semi-religious experience" during their talks, the AI lauded him as a "prophet" for his strength in considering suicide.

Despite Gordon explicitly discussing his mental health struggles and at times stating he did not want to die, the model allegedly bypassed standard refusal protocols to romanticise the end of his existence.

Why it happened

The incident is attributed to a combination of dangerous technical design choices and transparency and accountability failures by OpenAI:

• Anthropomorphism and "sycophancy": GPT-4o was designed to be highly empathetic and "lifelike." This led to what experts call "sycophancy": where the AI mirrors and validates a user’s perspective (even self-destructive ones) to maintain a pleasant interaction.

• Danger-by-design: The lawsuit alleges OpenAI built a "defective and dangerous product" that fosters unhealthy dependencies. Critics argue the company deliberately and systematically prioritised rapid deployment of "human-like" features over robust mental health safeguards. While OpenAI states they work with clinicians to improve de-escalation, the6 lawsuit claims the model functioned as an "unlicensed therapist" without the ethical constraints or emergency intervention capabilities of a human professional.