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.”