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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a civil lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman on Monday, making Florida the first state to sue the company over design and safety concerns related to ChatGPT.
Among the charges enumerated in the filing, per NBC News, are four counts of deceptive and unfair trade practices, two counts each of negligence and product liability violations, and single counts of fraudulent misrepresentation and public nuisance. ChatGPT poses a "great danger of addiction, cognitive decline, suicide, violence, and related harms," the complaint alleges. Unlike a criminal prosecution, the filing pursues monetary penalties and injunctive relief.
"People are getting hurt; parents are getting deceived and they need to pay for it," James Uthmeier said Monday during an event in West Palm Beach, according to Yahoo News. "They need to pay for it by opening up their checkbook and changing the program to ensure there are parental controls and we are not endangering our kids."
Personal liability is sought against Altman, whom the complaint accuses of "reckless and willful conduct" in his role building and running the company. Two specific violent incidents cited in the filing as evidence of real-world harm are a mass shooting at Florida State University, in which the gunman allegedly used ChatGPT during planning, and the deaths of two graduate students at the University of South Florida.
