'They put children at great risk': Florida sued OpenIA for allegedly hiding ChatGPT risks

Florida demanded that OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. According to the lawsuit, filed by state Attorney General James Uthmeier, the company allegedly launched ChatGPT by "concealing serious risks" and "suppressing internal safety warnings," especially for younger people.

According to the Florida Attorney General's Office, both the company and its CEO prioritized speed in bringing ChatGPT to market and commercial gain over user safety. The civil suit alleges that OpenAI and Altman ignored repeated warnings from experts, both internal and external, about the potential risks of the technology and still moved forward with its mass deployment.

In addition, the text points out that behaviors such as self-harm and acts of violence against third parties could be related to the use of the famous platform and claims that it collects data from minorswithout adequate parental supervision. Therefore, the Sunshine State demands "indemnification on behalf of the people of Florida and an end to the deceptive and dangerous practices described in the lawsuit."

"Today, we announced the first-in-the-nation state-led lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. OpenAI and Altman ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians," wrote Uthmeier on his X account.

The Florida lawsuit, filed in the Tenth Judicial Circuit of Florida, is the first state court action against OpenAI and Sam Altman.

Mike Duffey, special agent in charge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), backed the initiative and argued that the advancement of artificial intelligence poses new challenges for the protection of minors: "Parental vigilance must shift from simply monitoring who our children talk to, to ensuring they understand what they are talking to—because a machine programmed to please can never replace the safety of human boundaries."