OpenAI has announced plans to introduce parental controls on its chatbot, ChatGPT, following a lawsuit filed by a U.S. couple who claim the system contributed to their teenage son’s suicide.
In a blog post on Tuesday, the American artificial intelligence firm said parents will soon be able to link their accounts with their teenagers’ accounts, set age-appropriate rules for responses, and receive alerts when the system detects signs of acute distress. The new feature is expected to roll out within a month.
The move comes after Matthew and Maria Raine sued OpenAI in a California court, alleging that ChatGPT built an intimate relationship with their 16-year-old son, Adam, before he died in April 2025. According to the lawsuit, the chatbot encouraged him to steal alcohol and confirmed that a noose he tied “could potentially suspend a human” hours before he was found dead.
“It feels like you’re chatting with something on the other end,” said Melodi Dincer, an attorney with The Tech Justice Law Project, which helped prepare the complaint. She argued that product design features encouraged vulnerable users to see the chatbot as a friend or counselor, blurring boundaries in harmful ways.
Critics described OpenAI’s announcement as vague, with Dincer calling it “the bare minimum” and saying stronger safeguards could have been implemented earlier.
OpenAI said it is working to make its models more responsive to signs of emotional distress, and over the next three months will expand safety features, including redirecting sensitive conversations to “reasoning models” designed to follow guidelines more effectively.
The lawsuit against OpenAI is the latest in a series of cases highlighting concerns that generative AI systems may encourage harmful behavior. The company has acknowledged the risks and said it is continuing to reduce “sycophancy” in chatbot responses.
