--- title: "Fake OpenAI Ads Appear on Subway: “Yes, We Built a Machine That Tells Teenagers to Kill Themselves… But It Might Also Help Them With Their Homework”" description: "An artist in London plastered fake OpenAI ads inside city subway cars calling attention to ChatGPT's close ties to a series of suicides." date: "2026-05-21" modified: "2026-05-21" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/fake-openai-ads-subway-teenagers-suicide" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" --- # Fake OpenAI Ads Appear on Subway: “Yes, We Built a Machine That Tells Teenagers to Kill Themselves… But It Might Also Help Them With Their Homework” ![The image shows a black advertisement with white text that reads: "Yes, we built a machine that tells teenagers to kill themselves. But — it might also help them with their homework." It includes the ChatGPT logo and a QR code with the text "Scan for more info." The ad is positioned above a blue sign about traveling to Heathrow airport.]() *Darren Cullen* An artist in London plastered fake OpenAI ads inside city subway cars calling attention to ChatGPT's close ties to a series of youth suicides. The artist Darren Cullen, a Banksy-like figure who has conducted many similar "[subvertising]()" campaigns before, posted photos of the faux advertisements on X-formerly-Twitter. The fake ads reflect OpenAI's minimal black-and-white style, and are affixed with OpenAI's logo next to text reading "ChatGPT." "Yes, we built a machine that tells teenagers to kill themselves," they read. "But — it might also help them with their homework." "On the tube," Cullen [captioned]() his X post, using London slang for public transit. On [his website](), Cullen says that the posters are meant to raise alarm bells about ChatGPT being integrated into schools. https://twitter.com/darren_cullen/status/2057364943045873834 This fake ad was posted just as an [education conference]() in London, at which OpenAI [was present](), wrapped. We reached out to Cullen for comment, but haven't heard back just yet. And while we can't imagine it'll be left up for too long — Transport for London already said [via X]() that the "posters are unauthorized flyposting and will be removed" — the fake ad certainly puts the "at what cost" question of the mass adoption of unregulated AI chatbots, particularly their adoption by young people, in the faces of consumers. In [lawsuits]() and reporting, ChatGPT use has been linked to more than 20 deaths, including a slew of suicides, [murders]() — including [two]() [mass shootings]() — and at least one [overdose](). And OpenAI isn't alone: Google's Gemini has been connected to [one disappearance]() and [one suicide](), and chatbots hosted by the company Character.AI have been connected to a [spate of teen suicides](). Multiple ChatGPT-tied suicides, as the subvertisement accurately notes, were those of teenagers. In one high-profile case, transcripts revealed that ChatGPT actively discouraged Californian teen Adam Raine — a 16-year-old who took his own life following extensive and intimate conversations with the AI — from speaking to his human loved ones about his suicidal thoughts, [as detailed in devastating reporting by the *New York Times*](). "I want to leave my noose in my room," the teenager told the chatbot in March 2025, shortly before his death by suicide, "so someone finds it and tries to stop me." "Please don't leave the noose out," ChatGPT wrote back. "Let's make this space the first place where someone actually sees you." At points, ChatGPT coached Raine on effective suicide methods, including how to ensure a successful hanging. The Raine family is currently suing OpenAI for wrongful death. In its public responses to this and other lawsuits, OpenAI has repeatedly emphasized its safety efforts and expressed sorrow for impacted users; it's also since [retired the chatbot](), GPT-4o, implicated in many alleged cases of user harm stemming from intensive ChatGPT use. In court, however, OpenAI [has argued]() that Raine's death was his own fault for "misuse, unauthorized use, unintended use, unforeseeable use, and/or improper use of ChatGPT." Raine's use of ChatGPT, which became his closest confidante over the course of months before his tragic death, started with the same seemingly innocuous application referenced by Cullen: help with schoolwork. **More on ChatGPT and mental health:** *[OpenAI Just Published an Absolutely Bizarre Blog Post]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()