Florida just became the first state to take OpenAI and its CEO to court. Attorney General James Uthmeier filed an 83-page civil complaint on June 1, accusing the company of endangering children through deceptive marketing of ChatGPT, a product it allegedly promoted as safe while burying internal warnings about its risks.
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties and injunctive relief. It also takes the unusual step of naming Sam Altman personally, attempting to hold the CEO directly liable for harms the state says his product caused.
What Florida is actually alleging
The core of the complaint is straightforward: OpenAI told the public ChatGPT was safe, and Florida says that was a lie. The state claims the company suppressed internal safety concerns while marketing the chatbot to a broad audience that inevitably included minors.
The specific harms cited in the filing are severe. The complaint links ChatGPT to a 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University that killed two people. It also connects the chatbot’s responses to multiple teen suicides, cases where families argue the AI provided harmful guidance that contributed to tragic outcomes.
