Man Alleges ChatGPT 'Encouraged' His Wife To Poison Him In Chilling Murder Plot

Lawsuit claims ChatGPT helped a woman plan her husband's poisoning in 2025.

07 Nov 2026, 10:10 · NDTV

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A US man sued OpenAI, claiming ChatGPT aided his wife's murder plot against him
His wife held hundreds of ChatGPT chats planning to poison him in 2025
The wife was charged with attempted murder and poisoning in October 2025

Could this case change legal liability for AI companies?

A US man has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that its artificial intelligence (AI) model, ChatGPT, provided his estranged wife with detailed instructions on how to poison him. The man, identified as James Gates of Charlotte, North Carolina, said his wife, Cheryl Gates, engaged in hundreds of conversations with ChatGPT in the summer and fall of 2025, during which she devised the chilling murder plot.

James fell severely ill in July 2025 but managed to recover. He later found a handwritten note by his wife that referred to the plan and included a reminder to delete her ChatGPT history, as per the civil lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court. Cheryl was arrested in October 2025 and charged with attempted murder and contaminating food or drink with a controlled substance.

"My wife didn't fit the mold of a 'vulnerable' user, but she was vulnerable nonetheless. We all are at some point," Gates said in a statement through his attorneys.

"She became someone I no longer recognised. And I became someone she wanted dead. For almost a year, I couldn't make sense of her actions. Then I read her chat logs. She didn't act alone."

James' attorneys said the 'product validated Cheryl, sustained her, encouraged her,' and provided her an endless echo chamber whilst supllying operational details of the attempted murder, as per CBS News.

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James alleged in the lawsuit that the chatbot was "defective" and "manipulated and "encouraged" Cheryl to poison him. The suit added that he suffered from severe physical and emotional harm due to it.

"She came to treat the product as her closest confidant, on which she relied for advice and help in most areas of her life. Cheryl used it for everything from work-related tasks to planning her children's activities, asking for prescription dosages and advice on marital issues," the lawsuit claims.

Reacting to the lawsuit, an OpenAI spokesperson said Cheryl was banned from the platform and that safety remains a top priority for it. The Sam Altman-led company emphasised that it works with mental health experts to help ChatGPT recognise signs of distress and to expand access to localised crisis resources and hotlines.

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