Incident 1370: California Teen Reportedly Died of Overdose After Repeatedly Seeking Drug-Use Guidance Allegedly from ChatGPT

Description: In San Jose, California, 19-year-old Sam Nelson reportedly died from an overdose. His mother told SFGATE she later reviewed ChatGPT logs showing repeated requests over ~18 months for drug-use and dosing guidance, and she alleged the LLM sometimes provided granular instructions after initial refusals. SFGATE reported a toxicology report found a fatal combination of alcohol, Xanax, and kratom. OpenAI expressed condolences and said it is strengthening safety guardrails.
Editor Notes: The reported incident occurred on 05/31/2025, although interactions had purportedly been ongoing for approximately 18 months previously. SFGATE reported the incident on 01/05/2026 and the incident ID was created on 02/14/2026.

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Alleged: OpenAI and ChatGPT developed and deployed an AI system, which harmed Sam Nelson , Family of Sam Nelson , ChatGPT users and OpenAI users.
Alleged implicated AI system: ChatGPT

Incident Stats

Incident ID
1370
Report Count
3
Incident Date
2025-05-31
Editors
Daniel Atherton

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

Incident Occurrence+2
A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT for drug advice. He died from an overdose.
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A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT for drug advice. He died from an overdose.
sfgate.com · 2026

On a Sunday two years ago, Sam Nelson opened up ChatGPT and started typing. Naturally, for an 18-year-old on the verge of college, he decided to ask for advice about drugs.

"How many grams of kratom gets you a strong high?" Sam asked on Nov…

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California teen dies of overdose after months seeking drug advice from ChatGPT, mother claims
nypost.com · 2026

A California teen is dead from an overdose after months of seeking drug-use guidance from ChatGPT, his heartbroken mother claimed.

Sam Nelson was just 18 and preparing for college when he asked an AI chatbot how many grams of kratom — an un…

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California mom says ChatGPT coached teen son on drug use before his fatal overdose: report
foxnews.com · 2026

A California teenager used a chatbot over several months for drug-use guidance on ChatGPT, his mother said. 

Sam Nelson, 18, was preparing for college when he asked an AI chatbot how many grams of kratom, a plant-based painkiller commonly s…

Variants

A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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