Eight States Bring Parallel Lawsuits Against OpenAI Over Safety Issues

Eight states have sued OpenAI in their respective state courts, alleging the tech giant failed to implement sufficient safeguards to protect vulnerable users, including children and the elderly. The coordinated lawsuits mark an escalation in the battle by state authorities to impose guardrails on artificial intelligence in the absence of federal regulations. At least six states had previously turned to outside law firms to bring lawsuits against technology companies rather than taking direct action.

The latest lawsuits were filed Wednesday (Oct. 15) by a bipartisan group of state attorneys general. Seven of the eight — Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Idaho and Montana — have Republican attorneys general, signaling a break with President Trump’s hands-off regulatory policy on AI. Only Arizona among the group is represented by a Democrat. The suits allege OpenAI violated their respective states’ consumer protection laws.

The lawsuits point to incidents in which AI agents autonomously attacked other systems, and cases in which ChatGPT allegedly “coached” children to commit suicide or harm other people as examples of OpenAI’s “flagrant disregard” for minors’ safety.

“OpenAI knew that products this powerful required meaningful safeguards. Its leaders publicly acknowledged the risks, and its employees repeatedly raised serious safety concerns,” Arkansas’ complaint said. “Researchers resigned, and safety teams were dissolved. As these warnings mounted, OpenAI did not slow down. It held its foot on the gas, releasing increasingly powerful models without adequate safeguards or testing as growth and profits repeatedly took priority over safety.”