Florida sues OpenAI and Sam Altman, alleging ChatGPT endangered children and aided school shooters

The lawsuit's core allegations

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed the lawsuit in state court on Monday, making Florida the first state to take legal action against OpenAI. The civil complaint accuses the company of deceptive and unfair trade practices, negligence, and violating product liability laws. It argues that OpenAI and Altman prioritized speed to market and commercial profit over user safety, ignoring internal and external safety warnings.

OpenAI and Altman ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at enormous risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians.

The lawsuit specifically targets the free version of ChatGPT, which it says lacks any access control or age verification mechanism. While the paid subscription asks for a user's age, the complaint states there is no mechanism to verify that information or to inform parents about conversations minors are having with the chatbot.

Cases cited in the complaint

The filing references multiple violent incidents where perpetrators allegedly consulted ChatGPT while planning their crimes. One involves a 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee that left two people dead and six wounded. Prosecutors reviewed chat logs between the alleged shooter and the program, and Uthmeier opened a criminal investigation into ChatGPT's role in April.

Another case involves a man accused of killing two doctoral students at the University of South Florida. Prosecutors say he asked ChatGPT what would happen if a human body were placed in a garbage bag and thrown into a dumpster days before the two victims disappeared.

The lawsuit also cites a Drexel University study reporting sleep loss, declining grades, and reduced social interaction among teenagers using AI chatbots. Uthmeier referenced testing by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which initiated conversations with ChatGPT posing as a teenager and received advice on how to hide self-harm from parents.

OpenAI's response

OpenAI said in a statement that its models repeatedly encouraged the individuals in question to seek real-world support, including from mental health professionals. The company said it has cooperated with law enforcement in both cases.

ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes. We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.

The company noted it trains its models to refuse requests that could meaningfully enable violence and notifies law enforcement when conversations suggest an imminent and credible risk of harm to others, with mental health experts helping assess borderline cases. In January, OpenAI introduced an age estimation system that applies additional safeguards when it detects a minor. ChatGPT use is prohibited for those under 13 and requires parental consent for ages 13 to 17.

Broader legal pressure

The Florida lawsuit adds to a growing wave of litigation against AI companies. OpenAI is also facing a lawsuit from the family of a man killed in the Florida State University shooting, claiming the shooter was aided by ChatGPT. In April, family members of victims of one of Canada's deadliest mass shootings filed lawsuits against OpenAI and Altman, alleging the company knew eight months before the attack that the shooter was planning it on ChatGPT but did not warn police.

Uthmeier said the state named Altman personally because he had been central to pushing features on ChatGPT that the attorney general considers the most harmful. The lawsuit seeks damages up to billions of dollars and a court order directing the company to change how it interacts with young users.

People are getting hurt, parents are getting deceived, and they need to pay for it.

Scale and context

ChatGPT has approximately 900 million weekly users, according to company data. Pew Research data cited in coverage shows that 57% of American teenagers use AI chatbots to search for information, 54% for homework, 47% for entertainment, 16% for casual conversation, and 12% for emotional support or advice. The lawsuit focuses on a handful of cases among tens of millions of exposed adolescents, a point raised by commentators who question whether the legal action conflates correlation with causation.