这是首起由州政府对 OpenAI 和 Sam Altman 提起的此类诉讼。
佛罗里达州总检察长 James Uthmeier 于 2026 年 5 月 20 日在佛罗里达州迈阿密举行的一场仪式上发言。| Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images
佛罗里达州共和党籍总检察长 James Uthmeier 于周一对 OpenAI 及其 CEO Sam Altman 提起诉讼,指控这家 AI 初创公司的 ChatGPT 不安全,且该公司就相关风险误导了公众。
该诉讼主张,ChatGPT 对儿童构成风险,并应对“一连串危害”负责,包括成瘾,以及协助和教唆大规模枪击和自杀。诉讼寻求就涉嫌违反该州不公平贸易行为法、产品责任法、公共妨害法和过失法的行为处以民事处罚。
起诉书中写道:“OpenAI 的崛起归因于一张欺骗之网以及对用户(包括佛罗里达州居民)的利用,它利用他们的数据和安全来推高 OpenAI 的市值,代价令人无法接受。”
这是州政府对 OpenAI 和 Altman 提起的首起此类诉讼,此前已有一系列针对大型科技公司的最新产品责任诉讼。
“我希望并期待其他州也会跟进,最终我们需要[AI 公司]改变它们的编程,”Uthmeier 周一在 West Palm Beach 宣布这起诉讼的新闻发布会上说。这位总检察长强调了一起 2025 年的大规模枪击事件,据称该事件是在 ChatGPT 的协助下实施的,并表示检察官认为,如果行凶者与 AI 程序的对话换成与另一个人进行,他们本可以提出额外的共谋指控。
一波针对社交媒体公司提出各种索赔的案件将于今年开庭审理,其中包括指控其平台导致年轻用户出现成瘾和躯体变形障碍等心理健康问题的诉讼。新墨西哥州的一个陪审团在 3 月对 Meta 处以 3.75 亿美元罚款,随后不久,洛杉矶的一个陪审团命令 Meta 和 YouTube 支付 300 万美元。
OpenAI 未立即回应置评请求。该公司此前否认有不当行为,并表示将继续加强保障措施。
这起民事诉讼与 Uthmeier 在 3 月对 OpenAI 展开的刑事调查是分开的,该调查源于 ChatGPT 据称向佛罗里达州立大学一起导致两人死亡的大规模枪击案中的疑似枪手提供了建议。
在对 OpenAI 提起民事诉讼时,一直对这项蓬勃发展的技术持激烈批评态度的 Uthmeier 主张,Altman 及其公司正在将“AI 竞赛置于我们孩子的安全与保障之上”。
“人们正在受到伤害;家长们正在被欺骗,他们必须为此付出代价,”Uthmeier 周一表示。“他们必须为此付出代价,打开支票簿,修改项目,确保有家长控制功能,并且我们不会危及我们的孩子。”
佛罗里达州监管 AI 的努力最初由州长 Ron DeSantis 牵头,他大力推动州议会为家长制定保护措施,并为聊天机器人设立护栏。然而,佛罗里达州众议院的领导人反对该州介入 AI 监管,转而与总统 Donald Trump 的立场保持一致,即这应留给联邦政府处理。
此后,Uthmeier 已成为反对 AI 发展的关键对手,如今正从多条法律战线对 Altman 发起攻势,而有关 FSU 枪手据称如何使用该技术的披露则进一步放大了这一行动。在周一提起民事诉讼之前,Uthmeier 的办公室已向 OpenAI 发出传票,要求提供大量记录,包括多年来关于自残或伤害他人威胁的政策和培训材料,以及该公司如何与执法部门合作。
“像 Sam Altman 这样的人不应该把这些产品设计成令人上瘾、针对孩子并鼓励他们做危险事情的东西,”Uthmeier 周一表示。“在有明确证据表明有人试图实施暴力并杀害他人时,这些人比世界上任何人都更懂得分析数据——当局当然更应该得到通知。”
It is the first such lawsuit to be filed by a state against OpenAI and Sam Altman.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks during a ceremony on May 20, 2026, in Miami, Florida. | Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images
Florida Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a lawsuit on Monday against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging that the AI startup’s ChatGPT is unsafe and that the company misled the public about associated risks.
The suit contends that ChatGPT poses risks to children and is responsible for a “litany of harms,” including addiction and aiding and abetting mass shootings and suicide. It seeks civil penalties for alleged violations of the state’s unfair trade practice, product liability, public nuisance and negligence laws.
“[T]he rise of OpenAI is attributable to a web of deceit and the exploitation of users (including Floridians), leveraging their data and safety to boost OpenAI’s market value at unacceptable costs,” the complaint reads.
It is the first such action against OpenAI and Altman by a state, and follows a slew of recent product liability lawsuits against Big Tech companies.
“I hope and expect other states will follow and ultimately we need [AI companies] to change their programming,” Uthmeier said Monday during a press conference announcing the lawsuit in West Palm Beach. The attorney general highlighted a 2025 mass shooting that was allegedly committed with the assistance of ChatGPT, saying prosecutors believed that they could have brought additional conspiracy charges if the perpetrators’ conversations with the AI program had instead involved another person.
A wave of cases leveling various claims against social media companies are going to trial this year, including allegations that their platforms cause mental health problems for young users like addiction and body dysmorphia. A New Mexico jury imposed a $375 million penalty on Meta in March, and a Los Angeles jury ordered Meta and YouTube to pay $3 million soon after.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously denied wrongdoing and said it continues to strengthen safeguards.
This civil action is separate from a criminal investigation that Uthmeier opened into OpenAI in March after ChatGPT allegedly offered advice to the suspected gunman in a mass shooting at Florida State University that resulted in two deaths.
In going after OpenAI with a civil lawsuit, Uthmeier, who has been a fierce critic of the booming technology, contends Altman and his company are putting the “AI race over the safety and security of our kids.”
“People are getting hurt; parents are getting deceived and they need to pay for it,” Uthmeier said Monday. “They need to pay for it by opening up their checkbook and changing the program to ensure there are parental controls and we are not endangering our kids.”
Florida’s efforts to police AI originally were led by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who fought hard for the state Legislature to enact protections for parents and guardrails for chatbots. Leaders in the Florida House, however, opposed the state getting into the game of regulating AI and instead aligned with President Donald Trump’s stance that it should be left to the federal government.
Uthmeier has since emerged as a key antagonist against the advancement of AI and is now taking it to Altman on multiple legal fronts, amplified by revelations about how the FSU gunman allegedly used the technology. Before firing off the civil lawsuit Monday, Uthmeier’s office subpoenaed OpenAI for scores of records, including policies and training materials over the years regarding threats of self-harm or harm to others, along with how the company cooperates with law enforcement.
“People like Sam Altman shouldn’t be designing these products to be addictive, to go after kids and to encourage them to do dangerous things,” Uthmeier said Monday. “Where there is clear evidence of attempts to engage in violence and kill others, these people know how to analyze data better than anybody in the world – the authorities sure as heck better be notified.”