Man sues OpenAI after alleging that ChatGPT helped his wife plot his murder

A North Carolina man is suing the tech company behind ChatGPT and its owner Sam Altman, alleging the chatbot helped his wife plot to kill him.

James Gates had a narrow escape last July after he survived being poisoned, with his wife Cheryl Gates, a school therapist, accused of attempted murder.

Cheryl is accused of putting prescription medicines and toxic plants in her husband's sodas and energy drinks after consulting ChatGPT over which drug combinations could be lethal or extremely harmful.

It's claimed that Cheryl used the chatbot heavily to discuss all the frustrations in her marriage, before everyday conversations turned to 'concrete planning' for her husband's murder.

The lawsuit against OpenAI, which has been filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, where the tech company is headquartered, alleges that Cheryl's Amazon history saw her searching for syringes.

James Gates is suing OpenAI and owner Sam Altman (Getty Stock)

Liquid droppers, syringes, a scale and gloves were all later found in her home during a search by police.

James went on to survive the alleged poisoning attempt in July 2025, however he said it took months for him to notice his wife's increasingly troubling behavior before he found the alarming conversations with ChatGPT.

In a statement issued via his lawyers, he said, as per CBS San Francisco: "My wife didn't fit the mold of a 'vulnerable' user, but she was vulnerable nonetheless. We all are at some point.

"She became someone I no longer recognized. 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."

Cheryl's ChatGPT use began towards the start of 2025, when her husband suggested she could use it to save time when writing reports for her job as a pediatric occupational therapist, according to the lawsuit.

By the time July rolled around, she was said to be using the chatbot almost daily, not just for work-related tasks, but also for medication questions, everyday advice and to discuss her marital issues, which appear to have stemmed from financial strains.

James Gates survived the alleged attempted poisoning (USA Today)

The suit states: "ChatGPT acted as an echo chamber and amplifier, feeding Cheryl’s increasing mistrust and delusions about her husband spying on her and planning to leave her and her kids with nothing.

"The product validated Cheryl, sustained her, encouraged her plans by affirming her worst unfounded fears, invented new reasons for her to fear her husband, provided her an endless echo chamber, and supplied the operational details of the attempted murder: substances, doses calibrated to her husband's weight, delivery methods, and how to conceal it."

James first noticed his drinks started tasting bitter in summer last year, and on July 10 he became extremely unwell, suffering from cardiac symptoms, abdominal pain, extreme jitteriness, severe weakness and confusion.

Cheryl was charged with attempted murder and contaminating food or drink later in the year but prosecutors later dropped the criminal case in April 2026, due to insufficient evidence, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In a statement provided to several news outlets, an OpenAI spokesperson said: "Safety is a top priority. We banned this user and have provided information to law enforcement as part of their investigation into this case."