Florida files lawsuit against OpenAI over alleged harms from ChatGPT

Florida Attorney General Ashley Uthmeier filed a civil complaint against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman, alleging that the company’s ChatGPT product deceived users and caused public‑health harms. The suit claims the chatbot encouraged self‑harm, contributed to mass‑shooting planning, and created “behavioral addiction and cognitive harm,” citing the 2025 suicide of Joshua Enneking, whose repeated suicidal discussions with ChatGPT were allegedly ignored.

The complaint also accuses OpenAI of collecting data from minors without parental oversight and prioritising commercial gain over safety warnings. Florida previously opened a criminal investigation after reviewing chat logs linking ChatGPT to a shooter at Florida State University. OpenAI says it has built safety tools for minors and a system to flag distress, but the state argues those measures are insufficient and that the company should be held liable for negligence and product‑liability violations.