Massachusetts teen charged with killing his mother and brother searched ChatGPT for 'fantasy' stories about family murders, DA says

Arjun Aravind, 17, was charged Thursday with two counts of murder in the deaths of his mother Sudha Venkatesan, 45, and his brother Siddharth Aravind, 14, at the family's Acton, Massachusetts home, according to Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan (CNN). The bodies were found Tuesday, about 20 miles northwest of Boston. A not-guilty plea was entered the same day.

The complaint cites ChatGPT searches for "theoretical ideas or fantasy stories regarding the killing of his family," Ryan said, describing the activity as "kind of the Gothic novel kind of stories, asking questions, creating characters, asking what about this, if this happened to that." Prosecutors are not calling the searches a confirmed plan.

A police report obtained by CNN affiliate WCVB cites a "heavily damaged bloody laptop" and a "bent utensil, possibly a knife with an orange handle" at the scene. Causes of death are pending. Aravind is held without bail, ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation, and faces a probable cause hearing on September 11.

The father told police Aravind had shown behavior issues for the past year and the family had hidden knives, WCVB reported. Defense attorney Debra DeWitt told the station the teen did not realize his mother and brother were dead until after his arrest.

OpenAI was asked for comment and had not responded. A Florida lawsuit against the company, filed this spring, alleges separate harms to minors; OpenAI has called its safeguards "industry leading."