Florida lawsuit accuses OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of endangering children

Florida is suing OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, accusing the ChatGPT maker of developing a product that puts children at risk in the name of profit.

James Uthmeier (R), the state’s attorney general, announced the case at a news conference Monday.

“We’re going to make them pay for hurting our kids,” he said.

Authorities in Florida began investigating the artificial intelligence giant following a shooting on the campus of Florida State University last year. Uthmeier’s office has a separate ongoing criminal investigation into the company, on allegations that its chatbot advised the suspected gunman about his choice of weapons.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the civil suit. (The Washington Post has a content partnership with OpenAI.)

The filing Monday adds to the legal scrutiny facing OpenAI over allegations that its chatbot has helped users harm themselves or others. Parents of people who have died by suicide have also brought complaints against the company, as have the families of victims in a mass killing in Canada. The cases will help shape what level of responsibility AI companies have for the answers their products give.

Uthmeier has compared ChatGPT to a human accomplice in the Florida State case; OpenAI has countered that it only surfaced information already widely available online.

“Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,” OpenAI spokesperson Kate Waters said in April when Uthmeier opened the criminal case.

Florida’s civil case, filed in a state court, accuses the company of violating the state’s consumer protection laws. The state’s 83-page complaint largely draws on news articles and other public reports.

The state is seeking an order from a judge requiring more protections for children’s data and stronger parental controls, as well as financial penalties for OpenAI.