Florida on Monday became the first state to sue OpenAI over claims that ChatGPT posed a risk to children and that the company had failed to warn the public of dangers posed by the chatbot, adding to a growing backlash against artificial intelligence.
In the 83-page lawsuit, which was filed in Florida’s 10th Judicial Circuit, the state said OpenAI had built “a dangerous online product where harmful information such as tips on eating disorders, self-harm and mass murder are readily available, including to young children.”
The company and its chief executive, Sam Altman, had engaged in negligence and violated Florida’s prohibition on unfair and deceptive practices, the state added.
“They have chosen profit over public safety,” said Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Republican, at a Monday news conference. He added that the company and its chief executive could be liable for up to billions of dollars in damages or penalties.
The lawsuit is the latest example of intensifying scrutiny over the effects of A.I. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and other companies have faced tough questions about the negative effects of their popular chatbots, including a series of lawsuits over children who interacted with chatbots before they died by suicide.
In January, Google and Character.AI, a chatbot tool, agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the mother of a Florida teenager who had used one of Character.AI’s bots before he died by suicide in 2024. Google licensed Character.AI’s technology and hired its founders after the teenager’s death.
More broadly, policymakers and voters alike have grown increasingly worried about the fallout from the widespread rollout of A.I., including the potential for skyrocketing energy prices from powering the technology, as well as its potential to put swaths of the population out of work.
State governments have taken the lead in creating restrictions and approving rules that govern A.I. The Trump administration, which is close to Silicon Valley leaders and has largely urged free rein for A.I. on the grounds that the United States must lead China in developing the technology, has tried to neuter state actions.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, proposed a sweeping bill to rein in A.I. last year. The legislation included a requirement that companies would disclose when they were talking to customers through an A.I. chatbot and forbade the technology’s use to offer licensed mental health counseling.
Mr. DeSantis hosted multiple public events where he criticized the A.I. companies and urged state lawmakers to pass his proposal. But his legislation fizzled when it failed to gain enough support with the state’s House Republican leadership.
Mr. Uthmeier started an investigation into OpenAI in April, citing concerns that ChatGPT had probably been “used to assist the murderer” in a deadly 2025 shooting at Florida State University. He also pointed to worries about the product’s effect on children.
“As big tech rolls out these technologies, they should not — they cannot — put our safety and security at risk,” Mr. Uthmeier said in a video announcing the investigation.
Mr. Uthmeier said on Monday that a criminal investigation into the company was ongoing.
The state’s lawsuit argues that OpenAI markets ChatGPT as safe and builds features that appeal specifically to minors. But “the plain truth is that it is shockingly unreliable,” the state said in its filing.
The chatbot has dispensed faulty medical advice, sent troubling messages to people in mental distress and aided in acts of violence, including the 2025 shooting at F.S.U., the state said.
A spokeswoman for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Florida’s lawsuit against OpenAI follows multiple state lawsuits against social media companies in recent years, accusing online platforms of harming children.
A New Mexico jury found in March that Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, had misled people about the safety of its products and enabled the sexual exploitation of young users. The jury ordered the company to pay $375 million over the suit, which was brought by the New Mexico attorney general.
Additional state lawsuits are scheduled later this year to go to trial over claims of social media companies designing their apps to harm children.
(The New York Times has sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, accusing them of copyright infringement of news content related to A.I. systems. OpenAI and Microsoft have denied those claims.)
Kirsten Noyes contributed research.
