Florida Sues OpenAI, Altman Over ChatGPT Safety
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- Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging the company marketed ChatGPT to the public without sufficiently warning of its dangers.
- The complaint accuses OpenAI of negligence and violating Florida's prohibition on unfair and deceptive trade practices, claiming ChatGPT "aided and abetted" mass shooters and encouraged vulnerable individuals toward suicide.
- The lawsuit specifically cites the murder of two University of South Florida graduate students, in which authorities say the suspect sought ChatGPT's advice on disposing of bodies.
- Florida becomes the first state to sue OpenAI, part of a growing string of state actions against Big Tech that has also targeted Meta and Snapchat.
- Gov. Ron DeSantis tried twice this year to pass AI regulation through the state legislature, but both efforts failed in the House after pushback from President Trump and Big Tech — making the AG's lawsuit the administration's de facto workaround.
- Uthmeier opened a criminal investigation into OpenAI in April after the Florida State University shooting gunman was found to have consulted ChatGPT beforehand; that investigation remains ongoing alongside the new civil suit.
Why it matters: For OpenAI, this opens a dual legal front in Florida — a civil deceptive-trade-practices suit alongside an ongoing criminal investigation — and it establishes the first state lawsuit against the company. The timing matters: it follows the collapse of Gov. DeSantis's two legislative attempts to regulate AI, both blocked in the state House by Trump and industry pressure.
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