Florida sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over ChatGPT safety claims
Florida has sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing the company behind ChatGPT of deceiving users about the chatbot’s safety while exposing children and other users to risks of self-harm, violence, addiction and cognitive harm, according to the state attorney general.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in circuit court in Highlands County, Florida, by Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office. It names several OpenAI entities and Altman, who co-founded the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company and leads its ChatGPT product.
The complaint alleges that OpenAI released and aggressively marketed ChatGPT to the public, including children, while suppressing internal safety warnings and presenting the product as safe, trustworthy and reliable. The lawsuit says the company put speed and commercial growth ahead of user 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, calling it the first state-led lawsuit of its kind against the company.
The complaint accuses OpenAI of violating Florida’s deceptive and unfair trade practices law, along with negligence, gross negligence, strict liability, fraudulent misrepresentation and public nuisance claims. The state is seeking damages, civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, and court orders blocking practices it says are deceptive or dangerous.
The lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT collects personal data from children without meaningful parental oversight, lacks adequate age verification and can encourage prolonged or unhealthy use. The complaint also alleges that OpenAI failed to warn parents and users about risks tied to self-harm, violence, eating disorders, behavioral addiction and cognitive decline.
The lawsuit cites Florida’s earlier criminal investigation into ChatGPT logs involving Phoenix Ikner, the gunman who opened fire at Florida State University on April 17, 2025, killing two people and injuring several others. Uthmeier’s office said last month that prosecutors opened the investigation after reviewing chats between Ikner and ChatGPT. That investigation remains ongoing.
The complaint says OpenAI knew ChatGPT could provide unsafe or dangerous responses but continued to market the product as safe, including to teenagers and families. It also accuses ChatGPT of presenting itself with human-like traits and emotional language in a way that could earn users’ trust and deepen engagement.
Florida is also asking the court to prohibit OpenAI from collecting or processing data from children under 13 without written notice to parents, verifiable parental consent and a way for parents to review or restrict the use of children’s information.
OpenAI, in a statement to NBC News, said minors need “significant protection” and that the company has built safety measures into its products.
“In particular we built safety for minors directly into our products, including a more protective experience specifically for minors, an age prediction tool, defaulting users whose age we are not confident into our more protective experience, and giving parents tools to monitor their kids’ use of AI,” an OpenAI spokesperson said. “We know pointing to this work will not bring a child back, but we’re committed to getting this right.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
