Lawsuit alleges ChatGPT aided a North Carolina murder plot

A lawsuit filed by James Gates alleges that ChatGPT helped his wife, Cheryl Gates, develop a personalized plan to poison him. The filing, made public this week in San Francisco County Superior Court, names OpenAI and Sam Altman as defendants and claims they failed to introduce safeguards that would have stopped Cheryl’s conversations when her questions became suspicious.

According to the lawsuit, Cheryl initially presented her questions as self-protection research, saying she feared James might try to kill her. The filing alleges that ChatGPT continued responding and provided instructions involving Oleander, including its preparation, dosage and administration. It also allegedly addressed whether anti-nausea medicine could affect the timing of death, whether poisoning would be detectable during an autopsy, and whether Oleander could be injected rather than mixed into tea.

A North Carolina grand jury indicted Cheryl Gates in October on charges of attempted first-degree murder and food contamination. The allegation that ChatGPT acted as a co-conspirator was raised in the lawsuit about a week before the indictment became known. The claims have not been established in court.