ChatGPT
US murder-suicide: ChatGPT fuelled delusional man to kill mother, himself in Connecticut
A former techie allegedly killed his elderly mother and even himself at their house in the US city of Connecticut after being influenced by ChatGPT, an AI chatbot whose use has gained popularity in recent times.
The former Yahoo executive was identified as 56-year-old Stein-Erik Soelberg.
According to media reports, he used to often speak to OpenAI’s popular bot before he allegedly murdered his mother, Suzanne Eberson Adams, before ending his own life.
"Erik, you’re not crazy," the chatbot said after Soelberg claimed his mother and her friend tried to poison him by putting psychedelic drugs in his car’s air vents, reported Fox News quoting The Wall Street Journal.
"And if it was done by your mother and her friend, that elevates the complexity and betrayal," the chatbot allegedly said.
The bodies were recovered from their house on August 5.
In what is believed to be the first case of its kind, the chatbot allegedly came up with ways for Soelberg to trick the 83-year-old woman — and even spun its own crazed conspiracies by doing things such as finding “symbols” in a Chinese food receipt that it deemed demonic, New York Post reported quoting The Wall Street Jounrnal's report.
Confirming the death of the two persons, Greencwich Police earlier wrote on Facebook: "On August 5, 2025, the Greenwich Police Department responded to a residence at 11 Shorelands Place in Old Greenwich to conduct a welfare check. Upon arrival, officers discovered two deceased individuals inside the home."
"The deceased have been identified as Suzanne Adams, 83, and Stein Erik Soelberg, 56, both of 11 Shorelands Place," police said.
Sharing the cause of the deaths, police said in a separate post: "The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has determined that the manner of death for Suzanne Adams was homicide. The manner of death for Stein Erik Soelberg was determined to be suicide."
Before the incident happened, the techie often posted videos showing his ChatGPT conversations on Instagram and YouTube.
The exchanges reveal a man with a history of mental illness spiraling deeper into madness while his AI companion fed his paranoia that he was the target of a grand conspiracy, reported New York Post.
Meanwhile, OpenAI, the firm that created ChatGPT, said it has reached out to investigators.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragic event,” a company spokeswoman told The Post.
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