Irate ChatGPT PR filmed trying to derail Sam Altman's interview with Vanity Fair editor after tycoon was asked about chatbot suicide

Updated: 12:29 EDT, 5 October 2026 An OpenAI publicist attempted to steer CEO Sam Altman's interview with Vanity Fair away from a question about a person who committed suicide after messaging ChatGPT.Editor Mark Guiducci asked the artificial intelligence tycoon a challenging question about suicide and self-harm during a two-part interview for the magazine's New Establishment list.He specifically asked Altman if he knew journalist Laura Reiley, whose 29-year-old daughter took her own life last year after using ChatGPT as a therapist.Altman said he does not know Reiley, and Guiducci began to share her heartbreaking story.'She is a journalist. She wrote an essay in the [New York] Times last year. Her daughter committed suicide after speaking to ChatGPT. ChatGPT did not tell her to kill herself,' Guiducci said before an OpenAI publicist quickly jumped in and tried to shut the conversation down.The unnamed publicist said: '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.'However, Altman defied his team's advice and insisted that he had the time to hear Guiducci's question.'I can run a few minutes over. Let me answer that one,' Altman said. An OpenAI publicist attempted to deflect a question from Vanity Fair to CEO Sam Altman about a person who died by suicide after messaging ChatGPT Vanity Fair editor Mark Guiducci asked Altman if he knew journalist Laura Reiley, whose 29-year-old daughter took her own life last year after using ChatGPT as a therapistMark Guiducci: “Do you know who Laura Reiley is?”Sam Altman: “I don't.”Mark Guiducci: “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—”OpenAI Publicist:… pic.twitter.com/cE870oA3Se— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) October 5, 2026 Reiley's daughter, Sophie Rottenberg, took her own life in February 2025 after seeking advice from an AI therapist, nicknamed Harry, and used the service to help write a suicide note.Rottenberg's note did not sound like her, and she had asked Harry to 'help her find something that could minimize our pain and let her disappear with the smallest possible ripple,' Reiley wrote in the New York Times.After hearing about the tragedy, Altman replied: 'I mean, first of all, these are some of the hardest questions that we face or that anybody developing this technology faces. 'Should we release people's private data in some of their hardest moments to researchers? I think probably not without their consent, or I should say, not without their consent. 'Do we want to find ways where we can work with the community to address the mental health crisis in the world and for our products to be helpful there? Of course, yes.' The publicist's attempt to avoid the very serious question drew sharp backlash online, with some saying her actions made Altman and the company look bad.'What a ghoul,' one person wrote on X.'A rare moment when Altman's instincts are better than his publicist's,' added another. Journalist Laura Reiley's (right) 29-year-old daughter, Sophie Rottenberg (left), took her own life last year after using ChatGPT as a therapist Rottenberg confided in an AI therapist for five months before her suicide in February 2025 and used the service to help her write a suicide note, her family saidA third person wrote: 'Seriously? This has to be a comedy sketch.''Baffled by the PR person who didn’t trust Sam Altman to handle himself and didn’t think about how this would amplify the moment,' wrote a fourth.A fifth person added: 'These people only want to talk about the "future" that their technology is ushering in and never about the implications for the people using it are.'An OpenAI spokesperson told the Daily Mail the publicist interjected because the interview was running over its scheduled time.'The interview was running over, which is why we ultimately asked to schedule even more time to continue the conversation after Sam addressed this critically important topic,' the spokesperson said in a statement.