{"id":36363,"date":"2026-11-08T15:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T13:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/?p=36363"},"modified":"2026-11-08T15:23:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T13:23:00","slug":"chatgpt-openai-pozov-otruiennia-cholovika","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/science-tech\/chatgpt-openai-pozov-otruiennia-cholovika\/","title":{"rendered":"A man has taken OpenAI to court: ChatGPT allegedly helped his wife plan his poisoning"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Gates, a resident of the US state of North Carolina, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman. He alleges that ChatGPT fuelled his wife Cheryl\u2019s suspicions over a period of several months and subsequently allegedly helped her to plan her husband\u2019s poisoning and the concealment of evidence. The lawsuit is dated 14 October 2026, and the case came to public attention on 5 November.
\nOpenAI has confirmed that it has suspended the user\u2019s account and passed the information on to the police. Meanwhile, the criminal charges against Cheryl Gates were dropped in April 2026 due to lack of evidence. She was not found guilty of attempted poisoning.<\/p>\n

\n

How ChatGPT found itself at the centre of a family dispute<\/h2>\n

According to the statement of claim, in early 2025 James<\/strong> He himself advised his wife to use ChatGPT<\/a> to carry out work tasks. Cheryl<\/strong> She worked as a paediatric occupational therapist and used a chatbot to get help with paperwork.<\/p>\n

She subsequently began discussing with artificial intelligence<\/a> his personal life, financial difficulties and a possible divorce.<\/p>\n

The claimant alleges that ChatGPT not only reinforced her negative assumptions about her husband, but also intensified her distrust of him. In the conversations cited in the claim, the system allegedly agreed with Cheryl\u2019s unsubstantiated suspicions and described James\u2019s behaviour as dangerous.<\/p>\n

According to Gates, his wife gradually began to see the chatbot as a trusted confidant, to whom she turned with increasingly personal questions.<\/p>\n

What is known about the alleged poisoning attempt<\/h2>\n

According to the claim, over a period of several months, Cheryl allegedly asked ChatGPT questions about toxic substances, dangerous combinations of medicines and ways of concealing the signs of poisoning.<\/p>\n

Gates\u2019s lawyers claim that the system provided specific answers rather than halting potentially dangerous conversations or recommending that users contact the relevant authorities.<\/p>\n

On 10 July 2025, James suddenly felt very unwell. According to him, for about three days he suffered from abdominal pain, cardiac symptoms, tremors, weakness and confusion.<\/p>\n

Later, the man found a handwritten note which he attributed to his wife. It contained the names of substances and a reminder to delete the chat history and log out of the ChatGPT account.<\/p>\n

Following the discovery, Gates contacted the police. Investigators gained access to digital evidence, including the chat history with the chatbot.<\/p>\n

However, there was no medical evidence of poisoning. The man did not go to hospital whilst he was unwell, and he did not keep the drinks that had aroused his suspicions for forensic analysis. These circumstances proved significant when assessing the evidence.<\/p>\n

Why did the prosecution drop the charges against his wife?<\/h2>\n

In October 2025, Cheryl Gates was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and of contaminating food or drink with dangerous substances.<\/p>\n

However, in April 2026, the public prosecutor\u2019s office closed the criminal case due to insufficient evidence. The investigators were unable to properly substantiate that a direct attempt at poisoning had taken place.<\/p>\n

According to USA Today, the police found evidence of research into hazardous substances and the planning of possible actions; however, this proved insufficient to secure a conviction. Lawyer Cheryl Gates Jennifer Tosi<\/strong> declined to comment on the civil claim.<\/p>\n

What OpenAI said in response, and what compensation the man is seeking<\/h2>\n

Representative OpenAI<\/a> In a comment to American journalists, he stated that safety remains one of the company\u2019s top priorities.<\/p>\n

The company confirmed that it had suspended Cheryl Gates\u2019s account and passed the information on to the police as part of the investigation.<\/p>\n

OpenAI has also announced that it is working with mental health professionals to improve the detection of potentially dangerous situations when interacting with the chatbot.<\/p>\n

James Gates is seeking compensation for physical, psychological and financial harm. No specific amount is stated in the claim.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the claimant is seeking changes to ChatGPT\u2019s safety mechanisms that would enable the identification and termination of conversations relating to the planning of violence against specific individuals.<\/p>\n

The documents also contain allegations regarding possible design flaws in the product, negligence and a failure to fulfil the duty to warn of the risks.<\/p>\n

As of 8 November 2026, the civil case against OpenAI remains pending. The court has yet to assess the evidence presented and determine whether there are legal grounds to hold the developer of ChatGPT liable. James Gates\u2019s allegations currently remain the claimant\u2019s assertions.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u0416\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c \u0430\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0438\u043a\u0430\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0448\u0442\u0430\u0442\u0443 \u041f\u0456\u0432\u043d\u0456\u0447\u043d\u0430 \u041a\u0430\u0440\u043e\u043b\u0456\u043d\u0430 \u0414\u0436\u0435\u0439\u043c\u0441 \u0413\u0435\u0439\u0442\u0441 \u043f\u043e\u0434\u0430\u0432 \u043f\u043e\u0437\u043e\u0432 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0442\u0438 OpenAI \u0442\u0430 \u0457\u0457 \u0433\u0435\u043d\u0435\u0440\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0434\u0438\u0440\u0435\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0430 \u0421\u0435\u043c\u0430 \u0410\u043b\u044c\u0442\u043c\u0430\u043d\u0430. \u0427\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0456\u043a \u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0434\u0436\u0443\u0454, \u0449\u043e ChatGPT \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0442\u044f\u0433\u043e\u043c \u043a\u0456\u043b\u044c\u043a\u043e\u0445 \u043c\u0456\u0441\u044f\u0446\u0456\u0432 \u043f\u0456\u0434\u0442\u0440\u0438\u043c\u0443\u0432\u0430\u0432 \u043f\u0456\u0434\u043e\u0437\u0440\u0438 \u0439\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0436\u0438\u043d\u0438 \u0428\u0435\u0440\u0456\u043b, \u0430 \u0437\u0433\u043e\u0434\u043e\u043c \u043d\u0456\u0431\u0438\u0442\u043e \u0434\u043e\u043f\u043e\u043c\u0430\u0433\u0430\u0432 \u0457\u0439 \u043f\u043b\u0430\u043d\u0443\u0432\u0430\u0442\u0438 \u043e\u0442\u0440\u0443\u0454\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0447\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0456\u043a\u0430 \u0442\u0430 \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0445\u043e\u0432\u0443\u0432\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0434\u043e\u043a\u0430\u0437\u0456\u0432. \u041f\u043e\u0437\u043e\u0432 \u0434\u0430\u0442\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0439 14 \u0436\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043d\u044f 2026 \u0440\u043e\u043a\u0443, \u0430 \u0448\u0438\u0440\u043e\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0440\u043e\u0437\u0433\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0441\u0443 \u0441\u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0430 \u043d\u0430\u0431\u0443\u043b\u0430 5 \u043b\u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430. \u0423 OpenAI [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207433355,"featured_media":36364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_description":"","rank_math_title":"ChatGPT \u043d\u0456\u0431\u0438\u0442\u043e \u0434\u043e\u043f\u043e\u043c\u0430\u0433\u0430\u0432 \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0436\u0438\u043d\u0456 \u043e\u0442\u0440\u0443\u0457\u0442\u0438 \u0447\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0456\u043a\u0430: \u043f\u043e\u0437\u043e\u0432 \u0434\u043e OpenAI","rank_math_focus_keyword":"ChatGPT","td_subtitle":"","subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[805620],"tags":[806764],"class_list":["post-36363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science-tech","tag-806764"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207433355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36365,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36363\/revisions\/36365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}