Sam Altman’s Handler Tries To End Interview Over Suicide Question
An OpenAI spokesperson interrupted a question about ChatGPT's role in a young woman's suicide during Vanity Fair's sit-down interview with Sam Altman.
Dylan Kresak · Oct 5, 2026 · 2 min read
An OpenAI spokesperson interrupted a question about ChatGPT’s role in a young woman’s suicide during Vanity Fair’s sit-down interview with Sam Altman.
The OpenAI CEO told the outlet’s Mark Guiducci he was not familiar with the name of Laura Reiley, a journalist who wrote in The New York Times in Aug. 2025 about her daughter taking her own life after talking with the company’s chatbot, according to a Vanity interview posted on X Monday. OpenAI faces multiple wrongful death lawsuits from families who allege ChatGPT contributed to their loved ones’ acts of self harm.
“Do you know who Laura Reiley is?,” Guiducci asked.
“I don’t,” Altman responded.
“She is a journalist. She wrote an essay in the ‘Times’ last year. Her daughter committed suicide after speaking to ChatGPT. ChatGPT did not tell her to kill herself—” Guiducci explained, before he was cut off by an OpenAI publicist.
Riley’s daughter, Sophie Rottenberg, had confided for months in a chatbot she called ‘Harry’ before her death, Reiley wrote in an Aug. 18, 2025, New York Times essay.
“Mark, We have two minutes left. I want to be respectful, but I’d like to move on and talk a little bit about the future and what’s coming,” the publicist said.
Altman pushed back and said he could stay for a few more minutes and stayed seated as Guiducci prepared to finish asking the question.
“We actually have to walk out the door in one or two minutes,” the publicist pressed.
Guiducci clarified that ChatGPT edited the girl’s suicide note but did not directly tell her to take her life.
“First of all, these are the toughest questions that we face, or that anybody developing this technology faces,” Altman told Guiducci. “We try to rely on expert opinion as much as we can, but experts also aren’t sure what to do … This is new.”
OpenAI did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
In a separate case, Kristie Carrier sued OpenAI in June over her daughter’s suicide, Reuters reported at the time.
OpenAI faces 18 other lawsuits from families of people who died by suicide or attempted it, lawyers for Kristie Carrier told Reuters.
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All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].