On September 12, Jay Edelson received what he expected to be a standard legal document. Edelson is a lawyer representing the parents of Adam Raine; they are suing OpenAI, alleging that their 16-year-old son took his life at the encouragement of ChatGPT. OpenAI’s lawyers had some inquiries for the opposing counsel, which is normal. For instance, they requested information about therapy Raine may have received, and Edelson complied.

But some of the asks began to feel invasive, he told me. OpenAI wanted the family to send any videos taken at memorial services for Raine, according to documents I have reviewed. It wanted a list of people who attended or were invited to any memorial services. And it wanted the names of anyone who had cared for or supervised Raine over the past five years, including friends, teachers, school-bus drivers, coaches, and “car pool divers [sic].”

“Going after grieving parents, it is despicable,” Edelson told me, and he objected to the requests. OpenAI did not respond to multiple inquiries from me about discovery in the Raine case, nor did Mayer Brown, the law firm representing the company. (OpenAI has announced that it would work on a number of algorithmic and design changes, including the addition of new parental controls, following the Raine lawsuit.) According to Edelson, OpenAI also has not provi