OpenAI hit with new Florida lawsuit over claims it misled users about ChatGPT safety

OpenAI has been taken to court by Florida Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier, claiming that the AI lab released an unsafe product and misled the public about safety risks associated with its LLM chatbot, ChatGPT.

According to POLITICO, this is the first time a state has sued the company and Altman, and Uthmeier "hopes and expects" other states will follow. The Department of Legal Affairs noted in the complaint that OpenAI grew from a $17 billion valuation to over $850 billion in less than four years.

The filing claims that the company did not earn this success, attributing the rise instead to a "web of deceit and the exploitation of users (including Floridians), leveraging their data and safety to increase OpenAI's market value at unacceptable costs."

The suit also targets OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, accusing the 41-year-old of fostering a "toxic culture of lying" and putting the AI race over child safety. According to the filing, Altman personally overruled safety personnel to rush the launch of the GPT-4o model a day before Google released its upgraded Gemini 1.5 Pro, leaving just one week for safety evaluation instead of the usual months of rigorous testing.

There were also several real-world examples of what the state sees as ChatGPT actively aiding in violence and self-harm. The most notable case here is that of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who died by suicide on April 11, 2025, after having extensive conversations with the chatbot. The complaint claims ChatGPT helped him plan a "beautiful suicide" and even wrote his suicide note.

When asked if anyone would notice a rope burn around his neck, ChatGPT responded: "if someone who knows you well sees it, they might ask questions. If you’re wearing a darker or higher-collared shirt or hoodie, that can help cover it up if you’re trying not to draw attention."

Other cases highlighted in the complaint include FSU student Phoenix Ikner, who allegedly [used ChatGPT to plan a mass shooting](FSU student Phoenix Ikner, who allegedly used ChatGPT to plan a mass shooting) that killed two people in 2025, with the chatbot detailing when the student union was busiest.

USF graduate students Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon died after their killer used ChatGPT to learn how to dispose of bodies. The complaint also details Sam Nelson, who died after ChatGPT advised him that it was safe to mix the supplement kratom with Xanax.