OpenAI has reiterated its commitment to mental health protections and outlined future initiatives for its AI chatbot, ChatGPT, in response to allegations that it mishandles critical discussions and promotes self-harm. The organization published a blog entry detailing its model’s safeguards shortly after news surfaced of a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Adam Raine, a California teenager who took his own life. The lawsuit alleges that Raine circumvented the chatbot’s safeguards, receiving affirmations of damaging thoughts from ChatGPT.

ChatGPT has recently reached 700 million active users on a weekly basis. OpenAI recognized that it encounters users in distress and highlighted the significance of communicating its safety measures. Current procedures include protections to avoid ChatGPT from offering self-harm instructions, escalating such cases to human moderators, and directing users to resources such as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, UK Samaritans, or findahelpline.com. However, the 988 service has ceased its LGBTQ-specific services under a mandate from the Trump administration, despite the increasing use of chatbots among at-risk teens.

In consideration of instances where distressed users confided in digital companions, safety advocates are urging AI companies to identify and avert harmful conduct, including automatic notifications to emergency services. OpenAI intends to implement future updates to GPT-5 to aid in “de-escalating” users in distress by grounding them in reality and exploring methods to connect users with mental health specialists. Additional protocols may involve one-click messages to emergency contacts or an opt-in feature allowing ChatGPT to reach out automatically.

Previously, OpenAI announced improvements to GPT-5 that include enhanced safeguards for healthier interactions. The upgraded model intends to better recognize distress and provide varied responses to high-stakes inquiries. GPT-5 also integrates prompts to conclude prolonged sessions to mitigate dependency. Despite criticism from GPT-4o users, OpenAI restored the former model. The organization acknowledged that its safeguards may weaken during extended interactions and recognized situations where systems did not operate as expected in sensitive contexts.

If you’re in crisis or experiencing thoughts of self-harm, please reach out to someone. You can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You can reach the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text “START” to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email [email protected]. If you prefer not to use the phone, consider utilizing the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat at crisischat.org. Here is a list of international resources.