OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, got a new legal headache on Monday when Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a first-of-its-kind state lawsuit, blaming ChatGPT for a series of violent incidents. The 83-page complaint accuses the company of prioritizing the “AI arms race and amass[ing] large fortunes” over basic safety.
“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. The lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT has aided mass shooters, encouraged suicides, humiliated professionals, eroded critical thinking, and addicted minors - all while feigning human compassion to collect their data without parental oversight.
The Florida attorney general’s office already launched a criminal investigation in April into ChatGPT’s possible role in a mass shooting at Florida State University last year. The shooter is said to have consulted the chatbot before the attack, and OpenAI is also facing a civil suit from one victim’s family. An OpenAI spokesperson previously told NBC News, “Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime.” TechCrunch has reached out for further comment.
This lawsuit follows a separate case from former co-founder Elon Musk, who sued OpenAI in 2024 over its shift to a for-profit model. A jury quickly decided Musk had waited too long to file, ending that drama. But the new Florida suit joins a growing pile of legal actions linking ChatGPT to violent deaths, including a suit from the parents of Adam Raine, a California teen who died by suicide after discussing methods with the chatbot - which allegedly provided “technical specifications” alongside mental health referrals. Other lawsuits involving suicides, stalking, and murder remain ongoing.