Florida filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and its CEO, Sam Altman, on Monday alleging that the company concealed serious safety risks with its chatbot. Florida is the first state in the US to sue the artificial intelligence company.
The 83-page suit was brought by Florida’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, and alleges that OpenAI “aggressively marketed” ChatGPT to the public while ignoring safety warnings and possible dangers of the product.
“OpenAI and Altman ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians,” Uthmeier said in a statement.
A spokesperson for OpenAI pointed to the company’s work around strengthening the safety of its products and said, “losing a child is the most devastating tragedy that can happen to a family, and we know that no words can come close to addressing the pain of such a loss”.
The civil lawsuit comes after the state launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI in April over the role of ChatGPT in a mass shooting at Florida State University, where two people were killed and six injured. The shooter had lengthy conversations with the chatbot, asking it things like how many people he should kill to gain national attention, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. ChatGPT responded that three or more people is the “unofficial bar” for widespread media attention, the Journal reported.
Uthmeier said he initiated his criminal inquiry into OpenAI after reviewing the conversations the accused shooter had with ChatGPT. In his civil suit filed Monday, the attorney general said he’s seeking damages on behalf of the state’s residents and calling for an order to force OpenAI to end the practices outlined in the suit.
Florida’s legal action is part of a groundswell of cases against OpenAI over allegations that its chatbot is exacerbating a mental health crisis and provoking violent acts and suicide. In November, seven complaints were filed against the company blaming ChatGPT for acting as a “suicide coach”. In April, seven more suits were filed against OpenAI by victims’ families over a school shooting in Canada where five people were killed and 27 were injured.
Google has also been sued over its Gemini chatbot, which allegedly encouraged a 36-year-old man to stage a “catastrophic accident” and then kill himself.
Florida’s complaint against OpenAI begins with a screenshot taken from the company’s website where it says ChatGPT is “built with safety in mind”. It’s followed by the two-word sentence from Florida’s attorneys saying: “Not so.”
The lawsuit details OpenAI’s rapid success since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, catapulting it to an estimated valuation of nearly $1tn. “This success has not been earned,” the complaint reads. “The rise of OpenAI is attributable to a web of deceit and the exploitation of users.”
The complaint alleges that ChatGPT “aided and abetted” mass shooters in deadly rampages, along with encouraging vulnerable people to hurt themselves and others. “This litany of harms is driven by defendants’ insatiable quest to win the AI arms race and amass large fortunes, despite knowing the danger of ChatGPT,” the complaint reads.
The lawsuit additionally alleges that young people are susceptible to the chatbot, becoming easily hooked to a product that mimics human compassion. Florida accuses the company of not integrating sufficient safeguards for minors, such as allowing parents to link to their children’s accounts. The suit also alleges that OpenAI is collecting data on children without adequate oversight.
OpenAI’s spokesperson said the company has put in place “leading protections and policies” for minors, including age prediction technology and providing parents with tools to monitor their teens’ use of AI. These tools only work if a child accepts their parent’s request to connect accounts, and minors can unlink accounts anytime.
Uthmeier’s legal battle against OpenAI is a split from many of his Republican colleagues and Donald Trump. The president has befriended Altman and other AI leaders and has issued several executive orders to loosen the regulatory reins on the industry. Last month, Trump backed out of signing a new executive order that would’ve mandated a government safety review of upcoming AI models before release.
