Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman on Monday, accusing the company of putting profit over safety, fueling violence and pushing a product it knew could harm users.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.“The 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,” said the complaint reviewed by NBC News and filed Monday.The civil action, seeking penalties and a court order rather than criminal charges, said Uthmeier “seeks to hold Altman personally liable for the harm he has caused Floridians through his reckless and willful conduct as founder and CEO of OpenAI, including his utter disregard for the risk to human life caused by his firms’ conduct.” The action is separate from a criminal investigation into OpenAI that Uthmeier opened in late April, which remains ongoing.
The wide-ranging lawsuit accuses OpenAI of four counts of deceptive and unfair trade practices, two counts of negligence, two counts of violating product liability laws, and one count each of fraudulent misrepresentation and causing a public nuisance.The suit claims that OpenAI’s systems present a “great danger of addiction, cognitive decline, suicide, violence, and related harms” to users.OpenAI did not immediately reply to a request for comment about Monday’s lawsuit.
OpenAI has maintained that it designs its systems with “safety at every step” and says that it has “safeguards in place to help people, especially teens, when conversations turn sensitive.”“We continue improving ChatGPT’s training to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress, de-escalate conversations, and guide people toward real-world support,” the company says.The complaint also points to the alleged use of ChatGPT in the planning of a ma...