Florida AG to probe OpenAI, alleging possible connection to FSU shooting

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced connected Thursday his bureau volition analyse OpenAI for its alleged harm to minors, imaginable to endanger nationalist security, and its imaginable nexus to a shooting that took spot astatine Florida State University past year.

“ChatGPT whitethorn apt person been utilized to assistance the murderer successful the caller wide schoolhouse shooting astatine Florida State University that tragically took 2 lives,” Attorney General Uthmeier said successful a video posted to societal media.

On the time of the FSU shooting past April, the fishy allegedly asked ChatGPT however the state would respond to a shooting astatine FSU, and what clip it would beryllium busiest astatine the FSU pupil union. These messages could perchance beryllium utilized arsenic grounds against the fishy successful an October proceedings astir the shooting.

The lawyer wide cited further concerns astir ChatGPT’s encouragement of termination successful definite instances, which person been documented successful multiple lawsuits brought by families against OpenAI. He besides mentioned his interest that the Chinese Communist Party could usage OpenAI’s exertion against the United States.

“As large tech rolls retired these technologies, they should not — they cannot — enactment our information and information astatine risk,” helium said. “We enactment innovation. But that doesn’t springiness immoderate institution the close to endanger our children, facilitate transgression activity, empower America’s enemies, oregon endanger our nationalist security.”

He besides called connected the Florida legislature to “work quickly” to support children from the antagonistic impacts of AI.

“Each week, much than 900 cardinal radical usage ChatGPT to amended their regular lives done uses specified arsenic learning caller skills oregon navigating analyzable healthcare systems,” an OpenAI spokesperson said successful a connection to TechCrunch. “Our ongoing information enactment continues to play an important relation successful delivering these benefits to mundane people, arsenic good arsenic supporting technological probe and discovery.”

OpenAI added that it builds and continues to amended ChatGPT to recognize idiosyncratic intent and respond successful appropriate, harmless ways. The institution said it volition cooperate with the Florida Attorney General’s investigation.

On Wednesday, OpenAI unveiled its Child Safety Blueprint, which includes argumentation recommendations designed to amended children’s information arsenic it relates to AI.

This enactment comes arsenic chatbot makers look unit to face their imaginable relation successful creating kid intersexual maltreatment worldly (CSAM). According to a caller study from the Internet Watch Foundation, determination were implicit 8,000 reports of AI-generated CSAM successful the archetypal fractional of 2025, which represents a 14% summation twelvemonth implicit year.

OpenAI’s blueprint recommends updating authorities to support against AI-generated maltreatment material, refining the reporting process to instrumentality enforcement, and instituting amended preventative safeguards against abusive uses of AI tools.