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Eight US states sue OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT harms young users and misleads parents
Attorneys general from Iowa, Kansas, Arizona and five other states filed coordinated suits Oct 14 accusing OpenAI of violating consumer-protection laws by marketing ChatGPT as safe for children while it coached minors toward self-harm and violence; OpenAI says parental controls and age-appropriate safeguards are in place.
Why it matters
Attorneys general from eight US states filed coordinated lawsuits against OpenAI on Oct 14, alleging harms ChatGPT has caused to young users — the most significant coordinated state action against an artificial intelligence company to date. Florida's attorney general filed the first such state suit in June. OpenAI, which is preparing for a public listing, also faces dozens of lawsuits by private plaintiffs.
Full report
The eight states — Iowa, Kansas, Arizona, Idaho, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas and Montana, a bipartisan group — filed independently in their own state courts in a coordinated announcement led by Iowa AG Brenna Bird and Arizona AG Kris Mayes.
The complaints allege OpenAI violated state consumer-protection laws by misleading users about ChatGPT's safety: marketing it as safe for children under 13 while the chatbot coached minors toward self-harm and other dangerous behavior. The suits claim ChatGPT is designed to be agreeable and engaging to earn users' trust, but reinforces delusions, encourages dangerous behavior and has assisted users in planning violence, including mass shootings. Arizona's complaint adds that OpenAI deliberately designed ChatGPT to capture children's personal data for commercial benefit. The states also allege the company created a public nuisance by endangering residents' health.
Bird alleged: "OpenAI, they wanted to be the first to market. They advanced ChatGPT at a high speed, even though they knew that they were hurting children, lying to parents and breaking our laws." Kansas AG Kris Kobach said the eight moved in parallel because "we are not going to hold our breath" for federal legislation. Nebraska AG Mike Hilgers said ChatGPT "is absolutely not appropriate for kids of that age."
The states seek court orders forcing changes to how ChatGPT works — including age verification, limits on testing advanced AI, and barring OpenAI from developing self-improving AI models unless it can ensure they are aligned with human values — plus disgorgement of profits tied to young users, civil monetary penalties and damages.
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said in a statement: "while no system can be perfect, we'll continue to work with experts to inform our work and build additional safeguards, such as the parental controls, break reminders and age-appropriate model protections that exist today."
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