OpenAI sued by 8 states over ChatGPT safety concerns

Eight states filed lawsuits against OpenAI on Wednesday alleging that the artificial intelligence company's ChatGPT chatbot is an unsafe product that's harmed children and deceived parents.

Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana have individually sued OpenAI in their own state courts, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said in a release. She said Iowa's lawsuit aims to "vindicate the rights of Iowans affected by OpenAI's willful, dangerous, reckless, and unlawful conduct."  

"OpenAI is hurting kids and they are lying to Iowans," Bird said in a statement. "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. My lawsuit is about protecting our kids and holding OpenAI accountable under our state law."  

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said the company has built age-specific protections into its product that "many other AI products lack." He added that OpenAI is working with states to advance policies that will apply to the entire industry.

"While no system can be perfect, we'll continue to work with experts to inform our work and build additional safeguards, such as the parental controls, break reminders and age-appropriate model protections that exist today," Pusateri said.