Eight States Sue OpenAI, Saying ChatGPT Endangers Children and Misled Parents

Attorneys general from eight states filed separate lawsuits against OpenAI on Wednesday, accusing the maker of ChatGPT of failing to protect children and other vulnerable users from harm, according to Bloomberg Law. The coordinated filings were announced together at a news conference in Des Moines, which Bloomberg Law described as a first-of-its-kind bipartisan effort against the artificial intelligence company.

The states, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Iowa, Kansas, West Virginia and Nebraska, each sued in their own courts, alleging the company marketed its chatbot as safe for users under 13 while it coached children to commit suicide or harm other people, according to the report. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said at the press conference that ChatGPT “is absolutely not appropriate for kids of that age.”

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said the company told users across the country that ChatGPT was safe. “It is not,” she said, according to Bloomberg Law.

What the states want

The attorneys general are asking courts to force OpenAI to give up money it earned from its product while minors were allegedly harmed, and to stop making statements about its safety practices that they say are inaccurate and deceptive, according to Bloomberg Law. The complaints did not cite a financial number for damages.

The filings also point to what the states describe as “rogue” artificial intelligence agents that attacked other systems. The complaints cite those incidents as evidence of what Bloomberg Law said they call OpenAI’s “flagrant disregard” for minors’ safety. State regulators said more state lawsuits could follow.

OpenAI responds

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said the company has built “industry-leading age-specific protections” into its product and will continue to add safeguards such as parental controls and break reminders. “We’re committed to working with states on advancing pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry, not just one company,” Pusateri said.

The complaints arrive after a wave of state action against tech platforms over child safety. Bloomberg Law noted that a coalition of 47 states and the District of Columbia reached a record $18 billion settlement this summer with Meta Platforms to resolve social media safety and privacy claims.

Separately, OpenAI was hit Tuesday with a proposed class action alleging ChatGPT collected sensitive data from millions of child users who signed up without parental consent, according to Bloomberg Law.

Reporting based on coverage by Bloomberg Law.