In a shocking revelation, it has appeared that over a million people around the world use ChatGPT each week to talk about suicide. According to the company’s latest analysis, around 0.15% of its roughly 800 million weekly active users show signs of potential suicidal planning or intent. Another 0.07% of users display symptoms linked to psychosis or mania, while around 560,000 users appear to have formed an unusually strong emotional attachment to the chatbot, sometimes valuing its company over real-world interactions.
As a result, acknowledging the gravity of these findings, OpenAI has made major updates to how ChatGPT handles mental health-related conversations. The company worked with more than 170 mental health professionals to refine the GPT-5 model, improving how it identifies and responds to users in distress. OpenAI reports a 65% increase in positive responses to mental health crises and a 91% compliance rate with its internal safety standards during evaluations involving suicidal conversations.
