TL;DRFlorida has become the first US state to sue OpenAI, naming CEO Sam Altman personally and treating ChatGPT as a defective product under product liability law. The lawsuit cites the FSU mass shooting, children’s safety failures, and deceptive trade practices, arriving weeks before OpenAI’s planned IPO.
Florida has sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman in what appears to be the first lawsuit by a US state against the maker of ChatGPT. The civil complaint, filed Monday in state court by Attorney General James Uthmeier, accuses OpenAI of violating product liability laws, engaging in deceptive trade practices, and releasing ChatGPT while knowing it was harmful to users. The state is seeking civil penalties and a court order blocking the company from collecting data from children under 13 without parental consent.
The lawsuit goes further than any previous government action against OpenAI by naming Altman personally, seeking to hold him liable for what Florida calls “reckless and willful conduct” and “utter disregard for the risk to human life.” The filing arrives weeks before OpenAI is expected to file for an initial public offering, adding legal risk to what was already a complex path to the public markets.
