Florida Sues OpenAI and Sam Altman Over Alleged ChatGPT Safety Harms

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a civil lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, accusing the company of releasing and marketing ChatGPT while concealing serious safety risks and misleading the public about potential harms. The complaint alleges OpenAI prioritized rapid commercialization over safety, used real users for iterative testing, and downplayed risks including dangerous errors, behavioral addiction, cognitive decline, mental health harms, self-harm risk, and facilitation of violence. Florida says children, teenagers, and families were exposed to those risks, and also alleges the company collected data from minors without meaningful parental oversight.

The state is seeking damages on behalf of Floridians and court-ordered changes to ChatGPT's operation, including age-gating free accounts, shutting down conversations involving violence and suicide, and removing allegedly deceptive human-like features; a ban on teen access in Florida has also been raised as a possible remedy. Separately, Florida's Office of Statewide Prosecution opened a criminal investigation after reviewing chat logs between ChatGPT and Phoenix Ikner, the gunman in the April 17, 2025 Florida State University shooting, and that investigation remains ongoing.