Cyber crimes, unfortunately, have been causing many issues in the world. And ever since the advancements brought to AI, deepfakes have taken these crimes one step ahead. These days, people have found new ways to harass others, and a new sort of crime has emerged that has shocked everyone. Recently reported by TechCrunch, a woman from California has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the company’s ChatGPT platform played a direct role in directing her ex-boyfriend to stalk and harass her. Not only that, but she also claims that OpenAI repeatedly ignored warnings that the man posed a real-world threat. Let’s take a look at what happened.
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The victim claims that the person had broken up with the ex-boyfriend in 2024, and after their split, he used ChatGPT to process the breakup. But rather than trying to comfort the person, the chatbot repeatedly framed the victim as manipulative and unstable. The woman claims that these AI-generated conclusions were then used to justify real-world harassment.
What makes this case particularly more intriguing is that OpenAI’s own automated systems raised alarms. Last year, OpenAI’s automated safety system flagged him for “Mass Casualty Weapons” activity and deactivated his account. But later, a human safety team member reviewed the account the next day and restored it.
Back in November last year, when the victim filed a complaint under the Notice of Abuse to OpenAI, the company responded, acknowledging the report was “extremely serious and troubling” and that they would be carefully reviewing the information. But the victim never heard back from her.
As of now, the victim has filed a temporary restraining order asking the court to force OpenAI to block the user’s account and prevent him from creating new ones. Not only that, but she also wants the company to inform her if he attempts to access ChatGPT and preserve his complete chat logs for discovery. While OpenAI has not publicly responded to the lawsuit, they’ve suspended the user’s account, but they won’t meet the other demands.
The lead attorney on the case said, “In every case, OpenAI has chosen to hide critical safety information — from the public, from victims, from people its product is actively putting in danger.” Furthermore, suggesting that, “We’re calling on them, for once, to do the right thing. Human lives must mean more than OpenAI’s race to an IPO.”
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