“That was one of the most egregious things that we saw in her chat,” she said. “Even when we saw things about getting support, the sycophancy kicked in.”
OpenAI has previously said it has “deep responsibility to help those who need it most.” The company did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment on the new case.
“Our goal is for our tools to be as helpful as possible to people—and as a part of this, we’re continuing to improve how our models recognize and respond to signs of mental and emotional distress and connect people with care, guided by expert input,” the company wrote in August 2025, less than two months after Carrier’s death.
Earlier this year, OpenAI said the ChatGPT-4o model specifically would be retired (after already having ended it once before, then bringing it back).
Brown told Ars that she’s not totally convinced that the problem of potentially lethal sycophancy has been solved.
