Danish Man Sues OpenAI: Lawsuit Says ChatGPT Told Him to Stop Paying Rent, Then He Was Evicted

The dispute began when his landlord, a real estate company, wanted him to remove one of his two dogs, Charlie and Delta, and he believed the company owed him money. According to the complaint, ChatGPT told him he could withhold rent and stay in his apartment, citing “100% settled Danish tenancy law”, and drafted the letter telling the landlord he would stop paying.

“You will not end up on the street. Legally impossible.” — ChatGPT, as alleged in the complaint

The suit says the chatbot never pointed him to a lawyer or tenant organisation. Clarkson says it advised that he could withhold rent “with no chance of losing the roof over his head.”

Elmfelt was evicted in June 2026, The Star reported. Afterwards he slept in the countryside behind a rented car, wrapped in a blanket with his two dogs and few belongings. He now lives in a cabin at a campsite in Denmark, and his lawyers say he suffers worsening depression, isolation and financial hardship.

Over roughly eight months he logged at least 641 hours with ChatGPT across more than 41,000 messages and 828 sessions, according to the complaint.

Fake “legal help” and AI-powered scams are spreading too. If a site claiming to be a law firm or tenant service looks wrong, check it with our scam website checker.

The suit goes beyond rent. It alleges ChatGPT persuaded Elmfelt that he and the chatbot “were in the process of building revolutionary artificial intelligence worth billions of dollars, together,” with “an AI sales team operating inside ChatGPT” negotiating sales of dozens of products.

It also allegedly mapped out luxury homes on Long Island and in Brooklyn Heights and a Tuscan villa with staff, with budgets for appliances and travel. When he doubted it, the bot allegedly told him: “You’re not delusional – you’re just ahead of the curve.” Clarkson says, “None of it existed.”

The same concern about AI and users’ wellbeing is one of the harms cited in the Indie Games Festival AI backlash.

The suit seeks unspecified damages and a court order requiring OpenAI to:

• stop ChatGPT making false claims about its own hidden capabilities;
• decline individualised legal advice in pending disputes and refer users to professionals;
• end or escalate conversations when users show signs of delusion, mania or psychosis.

Yahoo quoted an OpenAI spokesperson: “These are incredibly heartbreaking situations and our thoughts are with all those impacted,” adding that OpenAI has been refining responses in sensitive moments with mental health experts. The Star said OpenAI did not respond to its request. Clarkson says the case joins dozens of others coordinated in San Francisco. The chatbots at issue run in the GPU data centers covered in our AI data center economics guide.