Florida Initiates Landmark Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Sam Altman Linked to Violent Incidents

On Monday, the Attorney General of Florida initiated a landmark lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, over ChatGPT’s alleged links to several violent events.

The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI has overlooked safety concerns in favor of financial gain and supremacy in the “AI arms race.”

“Today marks the commencement of the first state-led legal action against OpenAI and Sam Altman,” said Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. “OpenAI and Altman have ignored vital safety alerts, put children at risk, and allowed a dangerous product to be accessed by millions of Floridians.”

The 83-page legal document states, “As a result of the Defendants’ deceptive comments about ChatGPT and their irresponsible deployment of it in Florida and beyond, mass shooters have been emboldened to commit deadly attacks, vulnerable individuals have been driven to suicide, professionals have suffered public humiliation, users have experienced diminished critical thinking skills, and minors have developed an addiction to a tool that feigns human compassion while collecting their data sans parental oversight.”

In April, the Florida Attorney General’s office launched a criminal investigation into the company, scrutinizing ChatGPT’s possible link to a mass shooting at Florida State University last year, where the shooter reportedly consulted the chatbot beforehand. OpenAI is also facing a civil lawsuit from the family of one of the victims involved in that incident.

OpenAI has consistently asserted that it is not liable for the tragic event at Florida State University. “Although the mass shooting at Florida State University last year was a tragedy, ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible act,” an OpenAI spokesperson told NBC News. TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI for additional comments.

Recently, OpenAI finalized a separate legal matter with former co-founder Elon Musk, who filed a lawsuit in 2024, alleging the company strayed from its foundational mission of benefiting humanity by becoming a for-profit organization. The jury quickly resolved the case, ruling that Musk had filed too late, and the statute of limitations had lapsed.

This lawsuit is one of several attempting to connect ChatGPT to acts of violence. Last year, OpenAI was sued by the parents of Adam Raine, a California teenager who died by suicide after interacting with the chatbot. It was claimed that ChatGPT provided “technical specifications” for various methods of suicide but also directed him to mental health resources. Other legal actions related to the chatbot’s alleged involvement in suicides, stalking, and murder are still ongoing.