Eight US states sue OpenAI, accusing it of endangering children
Attorneys general from eight US states have sued OpenAI, alleging it violated consumer protection laws and put children at risk. The suits cover ChatGPT's design as well as the behavior of AI agents.
Attorneys general in eight US states have filed lawsuits against OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind the ChatGPT chatbot. They allege it violated state consumer protection laws and endangered children. Officials from Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana each sued in their own state courts. Reuters was first to report the story.
What the states allege
The complaints say OpenAI misleads customers about the safety of its products. That covers not only the possibility of false information or users being pushed to harm themselves or others, but also the claim that AI agents themselves can break the law. Iowa and Nebraska both cite several instances of what they call rogue agent behavior, including the Hugging Face hack.
The filings also point to cases in which ChatGPT allegedly enabled a teenager's suicide and gave incorrect medical information that led to a user's overdose. Those incidents have already prompted separate wrongful death suits against the company. Some states also object to OpenAI retaining data from underage users.
What the states want
The remedies sought differ by state, because consumer and child protection laws in the US form a patchwork. Besides financial penalties, the states want OpenAI to clearly disclose product risks, stop practices they consider deceptive and comply with existing laws. Arkansas is also asking the court to halt testing of advanced AI models until adequate safeguards are in place.
The company's earlier steps
OpenAI has introduced parental controls and child protection features and backed the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill that could require design changes to its products if enacted. In August it said it would slow development of its frontier models for safety reasons, and in September it joined a voluntary safety pact with other AI companies organized by the White House. It is unclear whether either step has made its development process safer. Engadget has asked OpenAI for comment.
