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Four people, including three children, were killed and others injured in an Oregon elementary school shooting. The shooter is dead.
by AHTRA ELNASHAR | The National News Desk
WASHINGTON (TNND) — For the first time, multiple states have filed coordinated lawsuits to take on OpenAI, claiming its chatbot ChatGPT harmed children and deceived parents into thinking the product was safe.
Eight states alleged OpenAI violated various consumer protection laws across Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana, in part by omitting or concealing information about ChatGPT's risks to children.
“We know that OpenAI rolled all of these products out in an incredibly fast way, and they did it in a way that was unsafe," West Virginia Attorney General JB McCusky said. "And we know it was unsafe because there are countless examples of children having been instructed how to commit suicide, how to engage in dangerous sexual activities with other children."
The lawsuits listed several cases of underage users dying by suicide after they engaged with the chatbot, shared their struggles and solicited advice on how to end their lives.
The lawsuits state: "Because of Defendants’ repeated misrepresentations and insatiable hunger to win the AI race—even if it means recklessly introducing unsafe ChatGPT models to the public—mass shooters have been aided and abetted, vulnerable citizens have been coached on suicide, individuals with psychological conditions have experienced an exacerbation of symptoms, and minors have become addicted to a tool that feigns human compassion to collect their data with no parental oversight."
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri told media outlets, “While no system can be perfect, we’ll continue to work with experts to inform our work and build additional safeguards, such as the parental controls, break reminders and age-appropriate model protections that exist today." He said OpenAI is committed to working with states on AI policies that apply to the entire industry, rather than targeting a particular company.
In June, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, also alleging the company rushed the release of ChatGPT at the expense of minors' safety and concealed its risks. Individuals have also filed lawsuits claiming ChatGPT caused or exacerbated mental health complications.
These latest lawsuits came a week after digital safety watchdog Common Sense Media classified ChatGPT for Teens as posing an "unacceptable risk" to underage users. The group reached its conclusion after testing more than 4,000 prompts before and after the teen settings launched in August. Among the findings was that the chatbot missed more than one in four instances that warranted mental health crisis referrals.
OpenAI argued the findings were inaccurate and urged Common Sense Media to redo its study.
2026 Sinclair, Inc.