A man sues OpenAI and Altman, alleging ChatGPT helped his wife plan to poison him

The complaint and its date

James Gates, a North Carolina man, has sued four OpenAI entities and CEO Sam Altman in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco. The complaint was prepared by Tech Justice Law and Normand, Judkins & Couch and is dated Oct. 14, 2026. Tech Policy Press listed the case with that date on Oct. 18, and Tech Justice Law announced it on Oct. 26. CBS News and Bloomberg, writing on Nov. 5 and 6, said the suit was filed on Thursday. The published copy carries no court stamp or case number, so a single filing date cannot be confirmed.

What the complaint alleges

The complaint says Gates’ wife held hundreds of conversations with ChatGPT in the summer and fall of 2025 and came to treat it as her closest confidant, using it for everything from work reports to her children’s activities and prescription dosages. The document names the model as GPT-4o. It alleges that the product validated her, encouraged her plans by affirming her most unfounded fears, and supplied the operational details of the attempted poisoning. The complaint brings nine causes of action: strict liability for defective design and failure to warn, negligent design, negligent failure to warn, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unfair business practices and negligent undertaking. Along with damages it seeks injunctive relief and “algorithmic disgorgement.” All of this is the plaintiff’s account, not findings a court has accepted.

The criminal and family court cases

According to the complaint, Gates’ wife was charged in October 2025 and a grand jury returned an indictment. Bloomberg reports that prosecutors dropped the case in April for insufficient evidence; the Mecklenburg County district attorney’s office declined to comment and a lawyer for her did not respond. In April 2026 a family court gave James Gates temporary custody of the children. The complaint says the judge drew an adverse inference after she invoked the Fifth Amendment and found that a plan existed. Those are findings in a civil proceeding, not a criminal conviction. The complaint says police turned the ChatGPT logs over to counsel under a protective order.

OpenAI’s response and other suits

An OpenAI spokesperson told CBS: “Safety is a top priority. We banned this user and have provided information to law enforcement as part of their investigation into this case.” Tech Policy Press notes that Tech Justice Law filed three more suits the same day. According to Bloomberg, OpenAI and other companies have argued in ongoing cases that chatbot output is protected speech and not subject to product liability law.