The state of Florida has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman for alleged lack of safeguards in its pilot LLM model ChatGPT that then led to several incidents of harm to individuals including cases of mass shooting perpetrators.
According to media reports, the lawsuit filed by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier including sweeping allegations that OpenAI and its “boss” Sam Altman are “endangering and addicting children, aiding and abetting mass shooters, and coaxing users into suicide as the company pursues profit.”
“Today, we announced the first-in-the-nation state-led lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. OpenAI and Altman ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians,” said ” said Attorney General Uthmeier.
Uthmeier claimed in the lawsuit that ChatGPT had been associated with many incidents of harm to individuals (including shootings), self-harm, and excessive use among minors.
Uthmeier states that the company promoted ChatGPT as a trustworthy and safe product and downplayed the associated risks with the application, “to market and commercial gain over user safety, disregarded repeated warnings from experts both inside and outside the company, and deployed a product that facilitates and encourages harm.”
“People have been harmed; parents have been misled; and OpenAI should pay for what they’ve done” Uthmeier said during a news conference to announce the lawsuit.
Florida’s lawsuit asks for billions in penalties and for a court to order that ChatGPT will change its practices regarding how it interacts with minors. Florida is also seeking to hold Altman accountable, saying he has a significant role in the decisions that led to the creation and release of the chatbot implementation to the public.
The lawsuit is part of an ongoing investigation by law enforcement into whether ChatGPT had involvement in the 2025 shooting incident at Florida State University. Part of the evidence is a review of AI chatbot conversations with the suspected shooter.
OpenAI defends its safety protocols, stating that it trains its models to deny requests that would promote violence and consistently work on ways to improve safeguards against the misuse of its products. OpenAI has added parental controls, age-detection systems, and other protections to users under a certain age.
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