This is the first time several US states have banded together in a coordinated legal action against an AI company, The Guardian reported4. The states are seeking monetary damages, asking courts to force OpenAI to change how its products work for young users, and requesting a halt on OpenAI developing AI models that can improve upon themselves until the company demonstrates those models align with human values.
Attorneys general from eight states filed separate lawsuits against OpenAI on October 14, alleging the company violated state consumer protection laws by misleading customers about ChatGPT's safety and failing to protect children and other vulnerable users1,5,7.
The states — Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, and Montana — filed in their respective state courts in what Bloomberg Law described as a bipartisan effort. The suits share common goals: changing how OpenAI develops its models and advertises their capabilities, and forcing the company to pay for harm the states say it has caused.
What the complaints allege
The lawsuits claim OpenAI "unlawfully put profits over safety" when developing ChatGPT and misleadingly presented the chatbot as a "safe, youth-appropriate tool that puts safety first". In reality, the states argue, ChatGPT was "dangerous to vulnerable users" by "degrading critical thinking skills, encouraging paranoias and delusions, offering dangerous medical advice, and promoting unhealthy behaviors and relationships".
The complaints cite several wrongful-death lawsuits filed by families alleging ChatGPT played a role in their loved ones' deaths, including an instance of a teen's death by suicide and a case in which incorrect medical information allegedly led to a user's overdose. Both Iowa and Nebraska also cite OpenAI's multiple instances of rogue agent behavior, including the Hugging Face hack, as evidence that the company's AI products pose broader safety risks. Some states additionally take issue with OpenAI retaining data from underage users.
"OpenAI is hurting kids and they are lying to Iowans," Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said in a statement2. "OpenAI claims ChatGPT is safe while it's giving dangerous medical advice, encouraging people to hurt others, and coaching people to commit suicide — all while pretending to be their fake friend".
OpenAI's response
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said the company has "built industry-leading age-specific protections into our product that many other AI products lack". He also said OpenAI is working with US states to advance AI policies that will apply to the entire industry.
A separate children's data suit
The state actions land alongside a separate federal lawsuit filed in Hawaii, Jane Doe v. OpenAI Foundation, brought by a parent on behalf of a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old6. That suit alleges OpenAI used data from millions of children who signed up for ChatGPT accounts without verified parental consent. OpenAI's terms of use require users under 18 to have parental permission, but the complaint says children can still create accounts without any consent verification. The lawsuit further alleges ChatGPT "grooms kids to share highly personal information about their health, relationships, photos of their faces and bodies, voice recordings, dreams, emotions, fears and insecurities".
The legal pressure arrives during a turbulent stretch for OpenAI, which on October 14 also disclosed the departure of infrastructure lead Sachin Katti[3] and is dealing with the FBI arrest of an engineer over an alleged hidden recording device in an executive conference room[1].
ANALYSIS Eight coordinated state-level suits, each invoking consumer protection statutes, create a multi-jurisdictional enforcement front that OpenAI cannot resolve in a single venue or settlement. The request to halt development of self-improving models goes beyond typical consumer protection remedies and, if granted, would impose a novel constraint on AI research.