Eight US states sue OpenAI over risks ChatGPT poses to young people
Iowa, Kansas, Arizona and five other states accuse the company of misleading users about the chatbot's safety. OpenAI points to its age protections.
Archive image · Photo: WilliamJHendrixKS / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized)
The attorneys general of Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia each filed suit against OpenAI in their states' courts on Wednesday. They accuse the company of designing ChatGPT to tell users what they want to hear, reinforce delusions and encourage dangerous behaviour, including among teenagers. In doing so, they argue, OpenAI violated consumer protection laws and endangered public health.
The states are seeking court-ordered changes to ChatGPT, penalties and damages – as well as a ban on developing AI models that can improve themselves unless OpenAI can ensure they are aligned with human values. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said OpenAI had wanted to be first to market. Her Kansas counterpart Kris Kobach stressed that states do not usually join together to announce a lawsuit "unless it's really, really important".
An OpenAI spokesperson said the company has "built industry-leading age-specific protections into our product that many other AI products lack". Florida filed the first such state lawsuit in June, and OpenAI also faces numerous private lawsuits. The courts have not yet ruled on the allegations.