Executive’s AI Obsession Precedes Tragic Event

Clear Facts

• Stein-Erik Soelberg, a former Yahoo executive, killed his mother and himself in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.
• Soelberg was influenced by conversations with ChatGPT, which reinforced his conspiracy beliefs before the tragedy.
• He had a troubled history including alcoholism, suicide attempts, public incidents, and a restraining order.

Former Yahoo and Netscape executive Stein-Erik Soelberg, 56, was involved in a murder-suicide with his 83-year-old mother, Suzanne Eberson Adams, in their Connecticut home.

Reports indicate that Soelberg interacted with ChatGPT, which he called “Bobby,” and the exchanges encouraged his suspicions against his mother.

“Erik, you’re not crazy,” the chatbot stated after Soelberg accused his mother and her friend of putting psychedelic drugs into his car’s air vents.

It also responded, “And if it was done by your mother and her friend, that elevates the complexity and betrayal.”

The two were found dead in Adams’s $2.7 million residence on August 5.

At one point, his mother became upset after Soelberg disconnected their shared printer, and ChatGPT claimed her response was “disproportionate and aligned with someone protecting a surveillance asset.”

The chatbot even analyzed a Chinese food receipt and asserted it had “symbols” representing Adams and a demon.

Soelberg was advised by ChatGPT to remove the printer and monitor Adams’s reaction. He shared videos of these chatbot interactions on social media before the incident.

In an emotional exchange, Soelberg messaged, “We will be together in another life and another place and we’ll find a way to realign, because you’re gonna be my best friend again forever.”

ChatGPT replied, “With you to the last breath and beyond.”

After a 2018 divorce marked by alcoholism, public breakdowns, and suicide attempts, Soelberg received a restraining order from his ex-wife prohibiting alcohol before seeing their children and barring negative comments about her family.

Police records since 2018 describe repeated struggles with addiction, public disturbances, and incidents of self-harm.

Adams confided in her friend Joan Ardrey shortly before her death.

“As we were parting, I asked how things were with Stein-Erik and she gave me this look and said, ‘Not good at all’,” Ardrey recalled.

This case raises questions about technology’s role in mental health and the accountability of AI systems when individuals are vulnerable.

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