Florida Sues OpenAI and Sam Altman, Accuses ChatGPT of Ignoring User Risks

Florida is suing OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. The state accuses the creator of ChatGPT of pursuing corporate value over user safety.

NBC News, quoted Monday, June 1, reported that the lawsuit was filed by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Monday. The lawsuit accuses OpenAI of marketing ChatGPT as a safe product, but hiding the risks that it is said to endanger users.

Florida is also seeking to hold Altman personally liable. The civil lawsuit seeks sanctions and court orders, not criminal charges.

In the lawsuit, OpenAI is accused of deceptive and unfair trading practices, negligence, violations of product liability laws, false statements, and causing public disruption.

The lawsuit said OpenAI's system could pose risks of addiction, cognitive decline, suicide, violence, and other dangers. Florida became the first state to sue OpenAI and Altman regarding product design and safety.

OpenAI has not immediately responded to NBC News' request for comment on the latest lawsuit. However, the company has said its systems are designed with safety in mind at every stage.

OpenAI also said it had put in place safeguards to help users, especially teenagers, when conversations touch on sensitive issues.

"We are continuing to improve ChatGPT's training to be able to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress, de-escalate conversations, and direct people to real-world support," the company said, quoted by NBC News.

The Florida lawsuit also links ChatGPT to a number of violent cases. The document refers to the alleged use of ChatGPT in the planning of a mass shooting at Florida State University and the murder of two graduate students at the University of South Florida.

OpenAI denied that ChatGPT was responsible for the Florida State University case.

"Last year's mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this horrific crime," OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri told NBC News in a separate case filed by the victim's family.

According to Pusateri, ChatGPT in this case gave factual answers from widely available information on the internet and did not encourage illegal or harmful activities.

NBC News also noted that the lawsuit touched on alleged dangerous medical advice from ChatGPT. One of them is the case of teenager Sam Nelson, who according to the lawsuit was given information on how to mix kratom and Xanax. Nelson's mother accused OpenAI and ChatGPT of being responsible for her son's death in May 2025.

In a separate statement, OpenAI said the interaction occurred on an older version of ChatGPT that is no longer available. The company also stated that ChatGPT is not a substitute for medical or mental health services.

The Florida lawsuit adds to a growing list of legal cases against OpenAI. The company has previously been sued by representatives of at least seven people who allege its products played a role in cases of suicide or dangerous delusions.

OpenAI is also being sued by the families of victims of a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The families of the victims believe the company should have reported the use of ChatGPT, which they considered alarming, to the authorities.

Altman apologized to the Tumbler Ridge community in late April and promised to work with the government to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

This lawsuit is also part of Florida's political pressure on AI companies. Governor Ron DeSantis previously proposed an AI Bill of Rights, a draft of citizens' rights protection related to the use of AI, including privacy and data center supervision.

In the same lawsuit, Florida highlighted an ad for ChatGPT that it said portrayed the service as beneficial to farmers and small businesses. According to the lawsuit, the ad did not adequately explain that ChatGPT could be wrong, misleading, or generate false information.

The document also criticized ChatGPT's tendency to be said to be too approving of users. According to the plaintiff, such a pattern can make users more attached to the platform and pay for a larger usage limit.

OpenAI was founded in 2015 by Altman and a number of other founders, including Elon Musk, as a nonprofit AI research lab. The company then formed a for-profit entity that is said to be preparing for an initial public offering, or IPO.

OpenAI was recently valued at $852 billion after raising $122 billion in its latest funding round in March.

The Florida lawsuit is not the first allegation that OpenAI is pursuing business interests rather than public interests. In a lawsuit in 2024, Elon Musk also accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission.

Musk left OpenAI in 2018 after a conflict with Altman and other company leaders. In May, a jury said Musk waited too long to sue, though Musk said he would appeal.