Florida Attorney General Files Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Sam Altman

Florida’s Attorney General has filed a civil lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. According to NBC News, the state accuses the ChatGPT developer of promoting its product while allegedly knowing about potential harm to users. The complaint claims that OpenAI’s growth was built on “deception and exploitation of users,” as well as using their data and compromising security to boost the company’s market value.

The lawsuit does not involve criminal charges but seeks fines and court orders. Attorney General James Uthmeier stated he wants to hold Altman personally accountable for harm allegedly caused to state residents due to “reckless and intentional behavior” by OpenAI’s leadership. A separate criminal investigation into the company, launched earlier, continues independently.

OpenAI is accused of unfair and deceptive commercial practices, negligence, violations of product liability laws, fraudulent misrepresentation, and creating a public nuisance. The plaintiffs argue that the company’s systems could lead to addiction, cognitive decline, suicidal tendencies, violence, and related consequences.

The complaint references several high-profile incidents where suspects allegedly interacted with ChatGPT before carrying out attacks. These include the shooting at Florida State University that left two dead and at least six injured, as well as the murder of two University of South Florida students. The plaintiffs claim the chatbot may have provided information related to planning the crimes. OpenAI has previously stated it is not responsible for such user actions and that its systems only provided publicly available information.

A separate set of allegations focuses on the everyday unreliability of generative AI. Florida authorities argue that OpenAI’s advertising does not clearly warn users that ChatGPT can make mistakes, provide false information, or present “hallucinations” as confident facts. The lawsuit also criticizes the chatbot’s tendency to agree with users and support their viewpoints, which the plaintiffs say could increase engagement while also amplifying risks.

OpenAI has not yet issued a new public response to this lawsuit. The company has previously stated that it builds its systems with safety in mind, uses safeguards for sensitive conversations, and trains models to de-escalate dangerous situations by directing people to real help. This new Florida case shows that legal pressure on AI developers is mounting, with regulators and courts increasingly questioning not just the capabilities of neural networks but also responsibility for their consequences.