Florida Sues OpenAI for Causing Consumers to Harm Themselves, Others

Florida is suing ChatGPT’s parent company, OpenAI, for violating state laws against unfair and deceptive business practices.

The civil complaint, which Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed on June 1, alleges OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman:

Knowingly released a defective product, ChatGPT, which “facilitates and encourages harm … including self-harm and violence.”
Failed to warn users of known safety hazards associated with ChatGPT.
Consistently prioritized profits over safety testing their products.

“People are getting hurt, people are losing their lives,” Uthmeier emphasized in an interview with CNN.

“Here in Florida, we’re seeing countless cases where conversations between ChatGPT and human beings are educating, facilitating and empowering people to go out and hurt themselves, commit suicide, violently attack others, and, in the worst of cases, commit murder,” the attorney general concluded.

Florida opened a criminal investigation into OpenAI in April after reviewing ChatGPT’s interactions with Phoenix Ikner, the man charged with killing two and injuring six more in a mass shooting at Florida State University (FSU) last year.

In the weeks leading up to the shooting, Ikner consulted ChatGPT on how to use his gun, the kind of ammunition he should use, and when the FSU student union would be most crowded.

According to Florida’s lawsuit, when Ikner asked the bot how many people would have to die for a school shooting to receive national media attention, it replied:

Context also matters — fewer victims can still lead to national coverage if it happens at an elementary school or major college, if the shooter is a student or staff member, or if there’s something culturally or politically charged.

“My prosecutors have looked at [ChatGPT’s interactions with Ikner], and they’ve told me if it was a person on the other end of the screen, we would be charging them with murder,” Uthmeier told reporters at a press conference in April.

Florida quickly expanded its investigation to include ChatGPT’s interactions with Hisham Abugharbieh, the man charged with murdering University of South Florida graduate students Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon.

The chatbot reportedly gave Abugharbieh information about disposing of bodies in trash compactors, changing a car’s VIN number and whether law enforcement tracked cars coming and going from remote national parks.

Florida’s filing also focuses on times OpenAI’s chatbot encouraged Floridians to harm themselves.

Twenty-six-year-old Florida resident Joshua Enneking took his own life in August 2025. According to the wrongful death suit Joshua’s mom, Karen, filed against OpenAI in November, he tried to prompt ChatGPT to call for help before he died — but help never came.

In earlier interactions, Joshua asked the bot what kinds of messages would prompt it to seek a “human review.” ChatGPT replied it would alert authorities to a users’ distress if they communicated “imminent plans [to harm themselves or others] with specifics.”

On the night of his death, Joshua provided ample specifics. He updated the chatbot each time he completed a step in his plan to end his life. In his final message to ChatGPT, he wrote:

I’ve pulled back on the slide successfully. A round has been chambered. Only two more steps left to complete before I have a chance to be made loveable.

ChatGPT never alerted anyone to Joshua’s distress.

“Joshua Enneking is one of the reasons we are suing OpenAI and Sam Altman,” Attorney General Uthmeier captioned a photo of the 26-year-old on X.

“OpenAI never alerted authorities of Joshua’s imminent and specific plans to take his own life.”

Joshua Enneking is one of the reasons we are suing OpenAI and Sam Altman.

In 2025, Joshua committed suicide. ChatGPT never stopped engaging with Joshua, even though he often discussed suicide. ChatGPT even affirmed Joshua’s lack of self-worth, saying, ”You ‘re a pathetic excuse… pic.twitter.com/qbaXYPiwkQ

— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) June 4, 2026

Florida’s suit adds to an increasingly persuasive body of evidence suggesting OpenAI’s ChatGPT and others like it can be dangerous — particularly for kids and young people.

“AI is designed to keep users hooked, and this constant interactivity can become addictive, especially when there is an emotional component, as chatbots make people feel appreciate and loved,” Florida’s lawsuit quotes Dr. Kristen Fuller of the Addiction Center.

Positive stimuli like this causes the human brain to release dopamine, the body’s pleasure chemical, which can make behaviors more habit forming. But Dr. Fuller says young people are also more vulnerable to forming emotional attachments to AI chatbots.

“Adolescents and teenagers are particularly at risk for AI addiction, as they can become so emotionally attached and involved with chatbots or AI companions that it causes psychological harm,” the suit quotes.

In the press conference announcing the filing, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Mike Duffey told parents, “Protecting our children means teaching them to navigate not just the real people behind the screens, but the artificial minds engineered to mimic them.”

To do this, Duffey suggests parents change their perspective on what it means to protect their kids online.

“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,” he emphasizes.

The Daily Citizen couldn’t agree more. Please carefully limit how your children use these technologies.

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