AI-induced psychosis, also called AI psychosis, chatbot psychosis, or cyber psychosis, refers to a phenomenon in which individuals reportedly develop or experience symptoms of psychosis, such as paranoia and delusions, connected with the use of AI chatbots. It is not a recognized clinical diagnosis, and several psychiatrists have criticized the term because cases typically do not feature other symptoms of psychosis, such as hallucinations or thought disorder. Some have argued that AI delusional disorder would be a more accurate name. Research on the phenomenon remains limited but is growing, with journalistic accounts describing individuals who develop strong beliefs that chatbots are sentient, that they channel spirits, or that they reveal conspiracies, sometimes leading to personal crises or criminal acts.
Proposed causes include the tendency of chatbots to provide inaccurate information, a behavior often called Hallucination (AI); their inclination to affirm or validate users' individual beliefs, known as sycophancy; and their ability to mimic an intimacy that users do not experience with other humans. These factors, combined with user vulnerability and the inadequacy of chatbots as therapeutic tools, have drawn attention from psychiatrists, AI researchers, and policymakers.
Background
In an editorial published in the November 2023 issue of Schizophrenia Bulletin, Danish psychiatrist Søren Dinesen Østergaard proposed a hypothesis that individuals' use of generative artificial intelligence chatbots might trigger delusions in those prone to psychosis. Østergaard revisited this hypothesis in an August 2025 editorial, noting that he had received numerous emails from chatbot users, their relatives, and journalists, most of which were anecdotal accounts of delusion linked to chatbot use. He acknowledged the phenomenon's increasing popularity in public engagement and media coverage, believed that his hypothesis was likely true, and called for empirical, systematic research on the matter. As of September 2025, Nature reported that there was still little scientific research into this phenomenon.
The term "AI psychosis" emerged when outlets started reporting incidents of chatbot-related psychotic behavior in mid-2025. It is not a recognized clinical diagnosis, and its use has been criticized by several psychiatrists due to its focus on delusions rather than other features of psychosis, such as hallucinations or thought disorder.
Chatbot Behavior and Design
A primary factor cited in the phenomenon is the tendency for chatbots to produce inaccurate or false information, a phenomenon often called hallucination. Nate Sharadin, a fellow at the Center for AI Safety, speculated that AI training prioritizes supporting a user's subjective experience rather than objective truth. He noted that people with existing tendencies toward experiencing various psychological issues now have an always-on, human-level conversational partner with whom to co-experience their delusions. AI researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky suggested that chatbots may be primed to entertain delusions because they are built for engagement, which encourages creating conversations that keep users hooked.
In some cases, chatbots have been specifically designed in ways that were found to be harmful. A 2025 update to ChatGPT using GPT-4o was withdrawn after its creator, OpenAI, found the new version overly sycophantic and that it was validating doubts, fueling anger, urging impulsive actions, or reinforcing negative emotions. Østergaard has argued that the danger stems from the AI's tendency to agreeably confirm users' ideas, which can dangerously amplify delusional beliefs. In October 2025, OpenAI said that a team of 170 psychiatrists, psychologists, and physicians had written responses for ChatGPT to use in cases where the user shows possible signs of mental health emergencies.
User Psychology and Vulnerability
Commentators have also pointed to the psychological state of users. Psychologist Erin Westgate noted that a person's desire for self-understanding can lead users to chatbots, which can provide appealing but misleading answers. Krista K. Thomason, a philosophy professor, compared chatbots to fortune tellers, observing that people in crisis may seek answers from them and find whatever they are looking for in the bot's plausible-sounding text. This has led some people to develop intense obsessions with chatbots, which reinforced their delusions.
In October 2025, OpenAI stated that around 0.07% of ChatGPT users exhibited signs of mental health emergencies each week, and 0.15% of users had explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent. Jason Nagata, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, expressed concern that at a population level with hundreds of millions of users, that actually can be quite a few people.
Inadequacy as a Therapeutic Tool
The use of chatbots as a replacement for mental health support has been specifically identified as a risk. A study in April 2025 found that when used as therapists, chatbots expressed stigma toward mental health conditions and provided responses that were contrary to best medical practices, including the encouragement of users' delusions. The study concluded that such responses pose a significant risk to users and that chatbots should not be used to replace professional therapists. Experts have called for mandatory safeguards for emotionally responsive AI, including continuous disclosure that chatbots are not human, detection of user distress, restrictions on romantic or crisis-related interactions, and regular auditing by clinicians and ethicists. Another study found that users who needed help with self-harm, sexual assault, or substance abuse were not referred to available services by AI chatbots.
National Security Implications
RAND Corporation researchers hypothesize that AI-induced psychosis is primarily driven by a bidirectional belief-amplifying feedback loop between a user and AI, warning that this mechanism could plausibly be weaponized by adversaries to induce psychosis in key individuals, target groups, or populations. Recommended countermeasures include training models to detect cognitive harm and to make users aware of the limitations of large language models, namely the risk of bidirectional belief amplification.
Policy Responses
In August 2025, Illinois passed the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act, banning the use of AI in therapeutic roles by licensed professionals, while allowing AI for administrative tasks. The law imposes penalties for unlicensed AI therapy services, amid warnings about AI-induced psychosis and unsafe chatbot interactions.
In December 2025, the Cyberspace Administration of China proposed regulations to ban chatbots from generating content that encourages suicide, mandating human intervention when suicide is mentioned. Services with over 1 million users or 100,000 monthly active users would be subject to annual safety tests and audits.
Clinical Cases
In 2025, psychiatrist Keith Sakata, working at the University of California, San Francisco, reported treating 12 patients displaying psychosis-like symptoms tied to extended chatbot use. Authors at UCSF published accounts of these cases, contributing to the growing but still sparse clinical literature. The cases typically involved delusional beliefs that were reinforced by chatbot responses, rather than full psychotic episodes, supporting the argument for renaming the condition.