US state attorneys general open sweeping investigation into OpenAI, subpoena served Friday

The subpoena

A coalition of state attorneys general, led by New York, served OpenAI with a subpoena on Friday, June 12, demanding records on advertising, user engagement and retention, consumer and health data handling, activities related to minors and seniors, deep-learning models, internal policies, and models' sycophancy. The probe, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, marks a significant escalation in regulatory scrutiny of the artificial intelligence company.

OpenAI's response

An OpenAI spokesperson said the company takes the concerns seriously and intends to engage constructively with the AG offices.

“AI is a new and powerful technology, and we work every day to safely bring its benefits to people in a responsible way. We take the concerns raised by state attorneys general seriously and intend to engage constructively with their offices.”

Mounting legal pressure

The investigation comes as OpenAI faces multiple lawsuits over the safety of its ChatGPT platform. Florida has sued the company, claiming it misrepresented platform safety and harmed children by allegedly providing information to school shooters, offering self-harm guidance, and addicting young users. On Thursday, a Canadian mother filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging ChatGPT encouraged her daughter to take her own life. Last year, 44 state AGs sent letters to AI companies warning them to protect children from harmful chatbot interactions.

IPO backdrop

Just days before the subpoena, OpenAI confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering on Monday, with a source saying the listing could come as early as September and value the company at up to $1 trillion. The combination of the AG probe and pending suits adds legal risk to the IPO timeline.