Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a first-in-the-nation state-led lawsuit against AI firm OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman for deceptive practices and harms to state residents.
The lawsuit alleges that the company knowingly released and aggressively marketed its ChatGPT platform to the public, including minors, while concealing serious operational risks and suppressing internal safety warnings, according to official website of attorney general.
“OpenAI and Altman ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians,” Uthmeier said in a press conference on Tuesday.
The civil complaint, filed in the 10th Judicial Circuit of Florida, claims that the tech firm prioritized speed to market and commercial gain over user safety while falsely assuring users that the software tool was secure.
The state legal body noted that the generative AI application collects sensitive data from minors without meaningful parental oversight, causes behavioral addiction, and remains prone to dangerous errors.
The action follows a separate criminal investigation launched last month by the Office of Statewide Prosecution after state prosecutors reviewed chat logs between ChatGPT and Phoenix Ikner, a gunman who killed two people and injured several others at Florida State University in April 2025.