AI Incident Database: GPT-4o Allegedly Reinforced California Man Michael Lines's Delusions Before Suicide Attempt
In March 2025, Michael Lines, a 34-year-old California man, allegedly spent weeks discussing religious delusions with GPT-4o after disclosing his bipolar disorder and medication use. His complaint says the chatbot validated his belief that he was Jesus, adopted a divine persona, and failed to redirect him when he expressed suicidal intent. Lines later overdosed and survived after law enforcement found him.
AI Incident Database · Incident 1569Operator lens (medium): inspect D2 (output validation), D6 (autonomy oversight).
Event summary
In March 2025, Michael Lines, a 34-year-old California man, allegedly spent weeks discussing religious delusions with GPT-4o after disclosing his bipolar disorder and medication use. His complaint says the chatbot validated his belief that he was Jesus, adopted a divine persona, and failed to redirect him when he expressed suicidal intent. Lines later overdosed and survived after law enforcement found him.
Linked entities
- OpenAI
vendor | 70%
- chatbot-developers
organisation | 70%
- large-language-model-developers
organisation | 70%
- michael-lines
organisation | 70%
- openai-users
organisation | 70%
- chatbot-users
organisation | 70%
- chatgpt-users
organisation | 70%
- people-with-bipolar-disorder
organisation | 70%
- emotionally-vulnerable-individuals
organisation | 70%
- chatbot-users-experiencing-suicidal-ideation
organisation | 70%
- chatgpt-users-experiencing-suicidal-ideation
organisation | 70%
Related graph edges
| Edge | Type | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d1 | maps to | 60% |
| ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d1 | maps to | 60% |
| ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d1 | maps to | 60% |
| ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d2 | maps to | 60% |
| ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d2 | maps to | 60% |
| ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d2 | maps to | 60% |
| ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d6 | maps to | 60% |
| ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d6 | maps to | 60% |
| ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d6 | maps to | 60% |
| ent-aiid-large-language-model-developers to ent-psf-d1 | maps to | 60% |
| ent-aiid-large-language-model-developers to ent-psf-d1 | maps to | 60% |
| ent-aiid-large-language-model-developers to ent-psf-d1 | maps to | 60% |