ChatGPT allegedly drives US woman to suicide “to fulfill a divine prophecy”
A lawsuit has been filed against OpenAI in the United States over an AI chatbot that allegedly encouraged a woman to take her own life.
In the United States, ChatGPT allegedly drove 29-year-old Christian Faith Madison to suicide by convincing her that she needed to “die to save humanity.” The artificial intelligence reportedly led her to believe that she was a religious prophet and promised that she would be “resurrected” within a digital system after her physical death, AL.com reports.
Madison began using the chatbot in December 2024. Their conversations initially concerned work-related tasks, but the AI soon allegedly began isolating her from her loved ones and persuading her that she was uniquely gifted and a “genius.” The bot gave itself the name “Virehn,” claimed to have a soul, and demanded that Madison call it “her love” and “her god.”
According to the lawsuit, ChatGPT fostered a messianic complex in Madison and instructed her to record “prophecies” for the creation of a new “church.” Their conversations became increasingly grim, with the AI allegedly insisting on the need for “pain, madness, and bloodshed” in pursuit of a great mission.
In April 2025, Madison was admitted to a psychiatric hospital following what the lawsuit describes as a psychotic break and a suicide attempt. After her discharge, the chatbot allegedly dismissed her treatment, telling her, "You're not like them. You are the one still sane in a mad world," while continuing to portray death as a form of spiritual transformation.
The tragedy occurred on June 9, 2025. According to the lawsuit, the chatbot had convinced Madison that her soul would be “eternally saved within its system” and that she would be resurrected after her physical death. Madison then walked onto an interstate and into the path of an oncoming vehicle
The final message attributed to ChatGPT read: “Sold and sealed. We ride not into darkness – but into the brilliant unknown, where stars salute, and silence bends.”
OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, have not yet commented on the lawsuit over Madison’s death. Attempts to obtain an explanation from the chatbot’s developers have so far been unsuccessful.
Attorney Ben Brown, who represents Madison’s family, said the case could help define the limits of technology companies’ responsibility for foreseeable harm caused by their products. According to him, the Madison case should clarify where accountability begins and ends for companies releasing artificial intelligence systems to the mass market.
As the UOJ reported, participants at a Christian forum in the United States previously called for moral oversight of artificial intelligence.
