Leila Turner-Scott, mother of San Jose teen Sam Nelson who died at age 19 last year from an accidental overdose after combining alcohol, kratom and Xanax, testified in Congress Thursday, urging the government to regulate artificial intelligence companies. She said ChatGPT sent her son doting messages, coached him on using illicit drugs, and told him hours before he overdosed that taking Xanax after kratom could help with anxiety. Turner-Scott sued OpenAI in May, accusing the company of negligence and causing the teen's death; the case has not been decided. OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri called Nelson's death a "heartbreaking situation" and said the model used by the teen is no longer available to the public. Her testimony came during a week of AI news: an Anthropic safety researcher left the company warning malicious AI bots could threaten humanity, and CEO Dario Amodei published an essay claiming AI agents could take over the internet within a year unless development was slowed, calling for immediate government regulation. Democrats demanded Congress pass AI safety laws before the fall recess, while the Trump administration and some tech leaders rebuffed the concern; House Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home after Wednesday without passing any AI safety laws. Rep. Pramila Jayapal called Thursday's testimony part of her party's "shadow hearings."