OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman have been sued by a United States attorney general in what appears to be the first state-level case alleging that ChatGPT may be linked to violent incidents.
Florida’s Attorney General lawsuit claims the company failed to adequately address safety concerns, instead prioritising competition in the “AI arms race” and the pursuit of significant financial gains.
“Today, we announced the first-in-the-nation state-led lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman,” said Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. “OpenAI and Altman ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians.”
“Because of Defendants’ misrepresentations about ChatGPT and their careless introduction of ChatGPT to Florida and the world, mass shooters have been aided and abetted in deadly rampages, vulnerable people have been encouraged into suicide, professionals have suffered public humiliation, users have lost critical thinking skills, and minors have become addicted to a tool that feigns human compassion to collect their data with no parental oversight,” the 83-page lawsuit claims.
According to the attorney general’s office, a criminal investigation was opened in April to examine whether ChatGPT played any role in a mass shooting at Florida State University last year.
It is alleged that the shooter may have interacted with the chatbot before the attack. OpenAI is also facing a separate civil lawsuit filed by the family of one of the victims.
OpenAI has previously denied any responsibility in relation to the incident.
“Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,” an OpenAI spokesperson previously told NBC News.
OpenAI has also recently concluded a separate legal dispute involving co-founder Elon Musk, who sued the company in 2024, alleging it had abandoned its original mission of benefiting humanity by shifting toward a for-profit model.
The case ended after the court found that Musk had filed the suit too late, with the statute of limitations having expired.
