Florida Becomes the First US State to Sue OpenAI and Altman Named Personally in the Complaint
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a civil lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging the company suppressed internal safety warnings, collected children’s data without consent, and marketed a product it knew could contribute to serious harm risks.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Florida is the first state to sue OpenAI, as part of a growing string of lawsuits the state has filed against Big Tech companies, including Meta and Snapchat.
- The complaint cites ChatGPT’s alleged involvement in the April 2025 Florida State University shooting and the murders of two University of South Florida doctoral students.
- The lawsuit claims OpenAI lacks effective parental controls and age verification, alleging ChatGPT’s free version has “no gatekeeping or age verification mechanism.”
- OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood said losing a child is “the most devastating tragedy” and that no words can ease such a loss.
The state of Florida filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging the company knowingly released and marketed ChatGPT while concealing serious risks, including providing instructions to children considering self-harm and assisting crime planning.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said the company suppressed internal safety warnings and misled users about the product’s dangers, allowing a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians.
The complaint, filed in the Circuit Court of the Tenth Judicial Circuit in Highlands County, Florida, names Altman personally and seeks potentially billions in damages based on the alleged scale of harm.
What Florida Says OpenAI Knew, and Chose to Ignore
The filing arriving just after the Musk v Altman trial ended brings ten counts against OpenAI, including deceptive trade practices, negligence, product liability violations, fraudulent misrepresentation, and public nuisance.
It alleges the company ignored expert warnings about ChatGPT and that it was used by violent actors and individuals at risk of self-directed harm.
The state argues the defendants suppressed safety concerns while promoting the product, stating: “The rise of OpenAI is attributable to a web of deceit and the exploitation of users, leveraging their data and safety to boost OpenAI’s market value at unacceptable costs.”
The filing also references two prior incidents: an alleged violent attack involving a suspect linked to the Florida State University in April 2025, and a separate case tied to the University of South Florida in which a suspect allegedly posed ChatGPT queries about body disposal scenarios.
OpenAI has not publicly addressed the specific factual claims in the complaint beyond the spokesperson’s statement on loss and family pain.
The Child Safety Allegations and What OpenAI Said
Florida alleges ChatGPT fosters emotional dependence to sustain engagement, framing it as a deliberate, profit-driven design choice.
The lawsuit claims weak safeguards for minors, citing “no gatekeeping or age verification mechanism” in the free version and no requirement for parental consent.
It further alleges Florida minors have “become addicted to a tool that feigns human compassion to collect their data with no parental oversight.”
OpenAI says it uses safety filters and moderation, but Florida argues these protections were insufficient, inconsistently applied, and overstated to users.
The filing also notes Florida opened a separate criminal investigation into OpenAI in April over the Florida State University case, making this civil lawsuit a second legal front.
It is the latest salvo in a growing effort across the country to hold AI firms accountable when harms follow users’ interactions with chatbots, and the first time a state attorney general has put a CEO’s name directly on the complaint.
