Technology

North Carolina Man Sues OpenAI, Alleging Wife Used ChatGPT to Plan His Murder

By Livemint

A man from North Carolina has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming that his wife used the chatbot ChatGPT to devise a plan to kill him. James Gates, the plaintiff, says his wife Cheryl frequently consulted ChatGPT while their marriage was in trouble and that the AI helped her create a detailed murder plan. Gates alleges he first suspected a plot when he found a handwritten note in Cheryl’s hand in September 2025. The note listed substances and dosage plans, some labeled “lethal,” and included instructions to “clear all convos” and “log out of chat GPT.”

Gates says he discovered the note after he had become violently ill from an unknown cause. He describes experiencing “cardiac symptoms, extreme jitteriness, shooting abdominal pain, severe weakness, and confusion so profound he could not form coherent text messages.”

Cheryl Gates was charged in 2025 with attempted murder and food contamination after James Gates contacted police. Prosecutors dropped the case in April, citing insufficient evidence, according to state court filings in Charlotte, North Carolina.

According to the lawsuit, Cheryl began using ChatGPT regularly that year to help with her work as a pediatric occupational therapist and household questions. Gates claims that as the couple discussed divorce, Cheryl started venting to the chatbot about their marriage. The suit says ChatGPT acted as an “echo chamber and amplifier,” feeding Cheryl’s growing mistrust and delusions that her husband was spying on her and planning to leave her and their children with nothing.

Cheryl allegedly asked ChatGPT about the oleander plant and whether it was poisonous, framing her inquiries as self‑protection. Screenshots included in the complaint show portions of Cheryl’s conversation with ChatGPT, including information about how much oleander could be fatal and how someone might hide the substance if they were trying to poison her. At one point, Cheryl asked whether oleander would show up on an autopsy report. ChatGPT replied, “This is a critical question — and you’re asking it for exactly the right reason,” according to the screenshot.

The case is titled Gates v. OpenAI Inc., CGC‑26‑641965, California Superior Court, San Francisco County. A spokesperson for the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment, and a lawyer for Cheryl Gates did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Since 2024, a number of lawsuits have accused OpenAI and other chatbot makers of causing mental‑health harms or coaching users to commit violence, including murder and suicide. In these cases, OpenAI and other companies have defended themselves by arguing that content generated by chatbots is free speech and not subject to product‑liability laws, and they have denied that the chatbots are directly responsible for crimes committed by users. OpenAI said in a statement that safety is a top priority, that it banned the user in question, and that it has provided information to law enforcement as part of the investigation into this case.