Ryan Knudson

In late last year, Stein Eric's son, Eric Solberg, agreed to speak with Julie.

It was his first interview about what happened.

Eric decided to speak out because his grandmother's estate is suing OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT fueled the delusions that led to his father's and his grandmother's deaths.

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.

I'm Ryan Knudson.

It's Friday, January 9th.

Coming up on the show, why Eric Solberg blames ChatGPT for the murder-suicide that shattered his family.

Eric Solberg is 20 years old.

He's a college student studying cybersecurity.

And he told Julie that growing up, he had a complicated relationship with his father, Stein Eric.

In Connecticut, Stein Eric seemed to struggle with his mental health.

Through her reporting, Julie uncovered 72 pages of police reports, records that show Stye and Eric had multiple run-ins with police involving public intoxication, harassment, and suicide attempts.

Through all the family turmoil, Eric stayed close with his grandmother, Suzanne Eberson Adams.

Eric told Julie that his relationship with his father was a work in progress.

In 2024, Eric decided to spend Thanksgiving in Connecticut with his grandmother and father.

And when he got there, one topic seemed to dominate Eric's conversations with his dad, artificial intelligence and chat GPT.

In the months that followed, Steinerich's interest in ChatGPT turned into an obsession.

On his social media, Steinerich posted hundreds of videos, many of them detailing his conversations with ChatGPT, who he referred to as Bobby.

OpenAI said ChatGPT did encourage Steineric to contact professionals for help.

For instance, Julie found chats among Steineric's videos where ChatGPT suggested that he reach out to emergency services after Steineric told it that he'd been poisoned.