Elon Musk reacts ‘Yikes’ to alleged use of ChatGPT in Surat temple suicide case

Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and owner of X, has reacted to the recent suicide of two college students in a temple washroom in Surat, after police said the victims had searched for information about suicide methods using ChatGPT.

Responding to reports about the incident, Musk posted a brief reaction on X, writing a single word, "Yikes”, expressing shock at the development.

The two young women, aged between 18 and 20, were reported missing in Surat on Friday, March 6, after they left home for college but failed to return. Their families later approached the police.

The police traced the mobile phone location of the two students and found that they were at a Swaminarayan temple in Surat. CCTV footage from the temple showed the pair entering a washroom, where their bodies were later discovered.

During the preliminary investigation, police recovered bottles of anaesthetic drugs and syringes from the scene.

Officials said that after unlocking the victims’ mobile phones, investigators found search history entries related to methods of suicide on ChatGPT. Police also found a screenshot of a news report stored in the phone’s gallery, which mentioned a woman taking her life through an anaesthetic injection.

The incident has sparked debate on the role of artificial intelligence tools in providing information that could potentially be misused.

Musk, who has been a long-time critic of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has frequently raised concerns about the platform. He has often promoted his own AI chatbot, Grok, as being safer.

In the past, Musk has accused OpenAI of prioritising profits over ethical considerations in the development of artificial intelligence. Following the Surat incident, he again took a swipe at the company, suggesting sarcastically that such incidents were not linked to Grok but to ChatGPT.

Police in Surat are continuing their investigation into the case to determine the exact circumstances that led to the deaths.