Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) has filed what appears to be the first state lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman over the design and operation of the company’s artificial intelligence products, including ChatGPT.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, alleges OpenAI knowingly promoted products that could harm users while prioritizing profits over public safety. Florida is the first state to directly challenge OpenAI and Altman in court over the design of its AI systems.
According to the complaint, OpenAI has created “what has become a dangerous public nuisance,” and the state is asking the court to impose measures to lessen or eliminate the alleged harm.
The suit also seeks to hold Altman personally liable, alleging he engaged in “reckless and willful conduct,” including displaying “utter disregard for the risk to human life caused by his firms’ conduct.” (RELATED: Experts Fear AI Girlfriends May Be Reshaping Boys)
The 83-page complaint opens with a screenshot from OpenAI’s parental controls page stating that ChatGPT was “built with safety in mind.” The complaint immediately rebuts that claim with a blunt response: “Not so.”
“People are getting hurt, parents are getting deceived and they need to pay for it,” Uthmeier told reporters during a Monday press conference.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The civil action follows a separate criminal investigation announced by Uthmeier’s office weeks ago after authorities learned that the individual accused of fatally shooting two people at Florida State University had communicated with ChatGPT prior to the attack.
Uthmeier said Monday that the criminal investigation will continue while the civil lawsuit proceeds.
After reviewing conversations between the suspected FSU shooter and ChatGPT, Uthmeier argued that if the chatbot were a human being, it could potentially face charges.
“If ChatGPT were a person, it would be charged with conspiracy to commit murder and arrested,” he said.
During the press conference, the attorney general also cited conversations between ChatGPT and young users who later died from drug overdoses or suicide. (RELATED: Thomas Massie Says AI Smear Campaign Helped Sink Him With Seniors)
While acknowledging that artificial intelligence can serve valuable purposes — including helping law enforcement identify child predators — Uthmeier argued that some AI platforms are designed to be addictive and can encourage dangerous behavior among young users.
“This case is about the design of the platform,” he said.
The lawsuit reflects a growing legal strategy focused not on user-generated content, but on the design features and algorithms that drive engagement and user behavior.
That approach has shown signs of success in other technology-related litigation. Earlier this year, a California jury found Meta and Google, the parent company of YouTube, liable for a woman’s depression stemming from the design of their platforms. The companies were ordered to pay a combined $6 million in damages.
The Florida lawsuit could become a landmark test of whether AI companies can be held legally responsible for harms allegedly linked to the design and operation of their products.
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I’m all for it, something needs to be done to control this danger.