Florida Sues OpenAI and Altman, Citing Harm to Children

First Lawsuit Filed by a U.S. State Government Against an AI Company

The state of Florida in the United States has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging harm to children. This marks the first time a U.S. state government has filed a lawsuit against an AI company.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is giving a speech at an event in Tokyo, Japan, in February last year. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

According to the Financial Times (FT) on June 1 (local time), Florida claimed that OpenAI launched its chatbot service despite being aware of its addictive and dangerous nature. The state specifically cited the harm caused to children as a key issue.

James Uthmeier, Attorney General of Florida, stated, "We will make them pay the price for harming our children," adding, "I expect other states will follow suit."

The 83-page complaint alleges that OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT assisted mass shooters in carrying out their crimes, encouraged suicide among vulnerable individuals, and addicted minors to a tool that simulates human empathy. It also claims that the company collected children's data without parental supervision.

The complaint further points out that CEO Altman and other defendants "pushed forward with the product launch despite knowing that ChatGPT posed potential risks as severe as human extinction." The plaintiffs have asked the court to prohibit the collection of data from children under the age of 13 without parental consent and to strengthen consumer and child protection measures.

FT noted that this lawsuit indicates a growing movement within the Republican Party to strengthen AI regulations, which contrasts with the Trump administration’s previous stance of relaxing AI oversight.

Previously, in April, Florida also launched a criminal investigation into whether ChatGPT played a role in the mass shooting incident at Florida State University last year. However, OpenAI has denied any allegations of its products being connected to the case.

Meanwhile, OpenAI is also facing a lawsuit from the families of victims of the University of British Columbia (UBC) mass shooting in Canada. The families argue that OpenAI should have warned authorities about the perpetrator’s dangerous conversations. In April, CEO Altman sent a personal letter of apology to members of the affected community.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.