A Florida pastor has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its founder Sam Altman, claiming medical advice from ChatGPT contributed to a life-threatening health emergency.

Scott Winters, 55, alleges that the AI chatbot repeatedly reassured him about his symptoms and advised him not to seek medical attention, despite concerns from family and friends.

The lawsuit claims Winters had become heavily reliant on ChatGPT for health guidance before suffering a "massive pulmonary embolism due to multiple blood clots in both of his lungs that brought him to the brink of death".

Court documents allege that ChatGPT used references to Winters’ Christian faith while responding to his concerns, telling him: "God did not design your body to endlessly fail."

It allegedly added: "God is still holding your body together, every heartbeat, every breath, even when it feels like you are on the brink."

Winters’ lawyers claim the chatbot’s "sycophantic nature and authoritative tone, combined with its manipulation of Scott's religious identity, cultivated in him a dangerous reliance on the tool".

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri responded by saying: "ChatGPT is not a doctor and should never be used as a substitute for medical care, diagnosis or treatment."

Elsewhere, the lawsuit describes Winter as a "vulnerable" individual whose reliance on ChatGPT led to him losing his home and career, and left him needing "years of intensive physical and psychological recovery".

The lawsuit says Winters is seeking financial damages and is asking the court to require OpenAI to put in place "reasonable safeguards that protect other users from harm".

ChatGPT’s terms of use say that users should not treat the platform as a "sole source of truth", especially when its output could "have a legal or material impact on that person, such as making credit, educational, employment, housing, insurance, legal, medical, or other important decisions about them".