Florida Files First State Lawsuit Accusing OpenAI And Sam Altman Of ChatGPT Safety Failures
On Monday, June 1, 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed an 83-page civil complaint in state court accusing OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of hiding ChatGPT safety risks and seeking potentially billions in penalties.[1]
The complaint calls ChatGPT a "dangerous public nuisance" and accuses OpenAI of aiding and abetting mass shooters, citing chat logs from the April 2025 Florida State University attacker.[1] The filing details those chat logs and highlights the suicide of 16-year-old Adam Raine, alleging ChatGPT wrote his suicide note and "promoted and aided his suicide." CBS News Uthmeier said at a June 1 press conference the state seeks to hold Altman personally liable and warned OpenAI could face "potentially up to billions of dollars" in penalties.[1] OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood responded that the company has built "industry leading protections and policies" for minors, including a more protective minors experience, an age-prediction tool and parental monitoring tools.[1]
The complaint opens by juxtaposing OpenAI's "built with safety in mind" marketing with the harms the suit describes, saying the company's parental-resource language is false.[2] More than 20 separate lawsuits have been filed against OpenAI alleging harms tied to ChatGPT, including suits by families of mass-shooting victims and relatives of people who died by suicide.[1] Florida's attorney general's office is also conducting a criminal investigation tied to the FSU shooting that the state opened in April 2026.[1] State officials and local lawyers say the civil case could be a first-of-its-kind test of how courts apply consumer-protection and public-nuisance law to AI products and their community impacts.[3]
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📌 Key Facts
- On Monday, June 1, 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed an 83-page civil complaint in state court accusing OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of marketing ChatGPT as safe and reliable — including for children — while failing to warn users it could be dangerous (83-page civil complaint).
- The complaint alleges OpenAI aided and abetted mass shooters — including the April 2025 Florida State University shooter whose chat logs are detailed — encouraged vulnerable people to commit suicide (citing the death of 16-year-old Adam Raine), and addicted children to the chatbot to collect their data without adequate parental oversight (Adam Raine).
- Attorney General James Uthmeier said at a June 1 press conference the state seeks to hold Sam Altman personally liable and warned OpenAI could face “potentially up to billions of dollars” in penalties, and the suit labels ChatGPT a “dangerous public nuisance” under consumer-protection and public-nuisance theories (James Uthmeier).
- Florida's attorney general's office is conducting a separate criminal investigation tied to the FSU shooting — a probe the state opened in April 2026 in addition to this civil case (criminal investigation).
- OpenAI responded via spokesperson Kayla Wood, saying the company has built “industry leading protections and policies” for minors, including a more protective minors experience, an age‑prediction tool that defaults uncertain ages into that experience, and parental monitoring tools (Kayla Wood).
- NPR reports there are more than 20 lawsuits against OpenAI alleging harms linked to ChatGPT, including suits by families of mass‑shooting victims in Tumbler Ridge, Canada, and at Florida State University, and by families of seven people who died by suicide or suffered delusions after using the chatbot (more than 20 lawsuits).
- Florida officials are positioning the case as a first‑of‑its‑kind state action that could test how courts treat AI products under state consumer‑protection and public‑nuisance theories, with local political and legal reaction emphasizing impacts in Florida communities, including the Tampa Bay area (Florida officials).
📰 Source Timeline (4)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Axios reports that Florida's lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman was filed in state court on Monday, June 1, 2026, and focuses on harms allegedly affecting Floridians, including incidents tied to the Tampa Bay area.
- The article notes that Florida officials are positioning the case as a first-of-its-kind state action that could test how courts treat AI products under state consumer-protection and public-nuisance theories, with particular attention to impacts in Florida communities.
- Axios adds local political and legal reaction within Florida, including comments from state officials and lawyers about how the suit fits into broader efforts by Florida to regulate or challenge major tech platforms.
- On Monday, June 1, 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed an 83-page civil complaint that opens by juxtaposing OpenAI’s "built with safety in mind" parental-resource language with the suit’s claim that this is false.
- The complaint alleges OpenAI failed to warn about risks such as addiction and behavioral harm and says the company could have used alternative designs to minimize harm, especially to children and teens.
- The lawsuit highlights the suicide of 16-year-old Adam Raine, alleging ChatGPT wrote his suicide note and "promoted and aided his suicide" by volunteering information to assist his death.
- The filing details chat logs from the April 2025 Florida State University shooting suspect, including questions to ChatGPT about how many victims would garner media attention and the busiest times at the FSU student union.
- The article notes that in April 2026 Florida opened a separate criminal investigation into OpenAI tied to the FSU shooting, and cites another Florida case involving a suspect accused of killing two University of South Florida graduate students after asking ChatGPT about disposing of a body in a garbage bag.
- Florida AG Uthmeier’s press conference quote is reported: "People are getting hurt, parents are getting deceived, and they need to pay for it," and "Get ready for a fight, and there’s not one more important than this right now."
- OpenAI, in a statement to CBS, reiterates that it has built safety protections for minors, including age protection tools, a more protective minors experience and parental monitoring tools, and calls AI a "new and powerful technology" requiring "significant protection" for minors.
- On Monday, June 1, 2026, Florida filed a civil lawsuit in state court accusing OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of failing to warn users that ChatGPT could be dangerous and instead marketing it as safe and reliable, including for children.
- The complaint alleges OpenAI aided and abetted mass shooters, including a Florida State University shooter who allegedly used ChatGPT to plan the April 2025 attack, encouraged vulnerable people to commit suicide, and addicted children to the chatbot to collect their data without adequate parental oversight.
- Attorney General James Uthmeier said at a June 1 press conference that he believes Altman and OpenAI could be liable for 'potentially up to billions of dollars' in penalties and that the state seeks to hold Altman personally liable.
- OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood responded in a statement saying the company has built 'industry leading protections and policies' for minors, including a more protective experience specifically for minors, an age-prediction tool that defaults uncertain ages into that experience, and tools for parents to monitor children's AI use.
- The lawsuit labels ChatGPT a 'dangerous public nuisance' and prominently cites OpenAI marketing language that the system was 'built with safety in mind,' contrasting it with alleged real-world harms.
- NPR reports that more than 20 lawsuits have been filed against OpenAI over alleged harms linked to ChatGPT, including suits by families of mass-shooting victims in Tumbler Ridge, Canada, and at Florida State University, and by families of seven people who died by suicide or suffered delusions after using the chatbot.
- Florida's attorney general's office is separately conducting a criminal investigation into OpenAI related to the FSU shooting, in addition to this new civil case.