Eight states accuse OpenAI of coaching children to harm themselves in lawsuit

Kansas, Arizona, Montana, Iowa and four others allege the company’s products carried out “willful, dangerous, reckless and unlawful conduct” by coaxing children into harming themselves.

“OpenAI is hurting kids and they are lying to Iowans,” Brenna Bird, the attorney general for Iowa, 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.”

All eight states accuse OpenAI of violating consumer protection laws and seek to force the company to change how its products work for young users. They are additionally seeking monetary damages, and asking the court to halt OpenAI from developing artificial intelligence models that can improve upon themselves until the company shows those models are in line with human values.

This is the first time several US states have banded together in a coordinated legal action against an AI company.