Florida. ChatGPT maker company OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman have been sued by the state of Florida on allegations of neglecting child safety.
Florida claims that the company played with public safety for profit, even though it knew that ChatGPT was not safe for minors. Florida has become the first state in America to sue OpenAI over the alleged dangers of ChatGPT.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier expressed outrage at a press conference on Monday, saying, ‘Sam Altman and ChatGPT have prioritized the AI race over the safety of our children. They have chosen profit at the cost of public safety, and we will not tolerate it in Florida.’
The civil lawsuit, filed in Florida’s 10th Circuit Court, accuses OpenAI of deceptive and unfair business practices, negligence, and violation of product liability laws. The lawsuit also demands that Altman be held personally accountable. The petition claims that he should be held responsible for the damage caused to Floridians, citing the company’s complete disregard for the risks posed to human life.
The lawsuit makes a series of serious allegations against ChatGPT. It is accused of aiding mass murderers, encouraging suicide, causing public humiliation, and trapping minors in addiction to this tool without parental supervision. Furthermore, it is claimed that its continuous use leads to the loss of users’ logical and critical thinking abilities.
Denying these allegations, OpenAI issued a statement asserting that they agree on the need for extensive safety for minors and have implemented industry-leading safety policies. OpenAI stated, ‘Specifically, we have built direct safety mechanisms for minors in our products, including a safer experience for minors, age estimation tools, automatically placing users of unknown age in a safe mode, and features for parents to monitor their child’s AI usage. We know that pointing out these things won’t bring back a lost child, but we are committed to fixing it.’
Attorney General Uthmeier ultimately stated that OpenAI must change its programming and may have to pay billions of dollars in damages. The lawsuit specifically emphasizes that OpenAI lacks an effective parental control system for young users.
The lawsuit points out that the free version of ChatGPT lacks age verification or any restrictions, and there is no mandatory provision to link a child’s account with a parent’s account. Even if accounts are linked, OpenAI only alerts parents in very limited circumstances, and in no case can parents demand to see what information their child has provided to ChatGPT.
This civil lawsuit is a continuation of the initial criminal investigation Uthmeier launched last April. An investigation is underway into whether OpenAI bears criminal responsibility for the mass shooting at Florida State University last year. Florida officials allege that the perpetrator of that incident had detailed conversations with ChatGPT during the preparation for the shooting, discussing details of attacking the university and how to use weapons.
At that time, OpenAI had issued a clarification stating that the incident was tragic and that ChatGPT was not responsible for the crime. An OpenAI spokesperson said in April, ‘In this case, ChatGPT only provided factual answers to the questions asked, information that is readily available from public sources on the internet. It did not encourage or promote any illegal or harmful activities.’
Attorney General Uthmeier expressed confidence that other states in America will soon join Florida in this move. Other states in the US have also taken legal action against AI companies. In May, the state of Pennsylvania sued Character.AI, accusing its chatbot of misleading the public by impersonating a doctor.
Similarly, in January, the state of Kentucky also filed a lawsuit against Character.AI, accusing it of luring children towards self-harm. Those companies, however, have maintained that user safety is their top priority and that they are developing robust safety features for minors.
CNN
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