Eight States Sue OpenAI, Claiming It Endangers Children

Eight states have filed lawsuits against OpenAI, accusing the company of violating consumer protection laws and putting children at risk. Attorneys General from Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana filed in their respective state courts, according to Reuters.

The suits claim OpenAI misleads customers about the safety of its AI products - not only their potential to spread false information or enable harm, but also the possibility that AI agents themselves could break the law. Iowa and Nebraska cite OpenAI's rogue agent incidents, including the Hugging Face hack, as well as cases where ChatGPT allegedly contributed to a teen's suicide and gave medical advice that led to an overdose. Some states also object to OpenAI retaining data from underage users.

The remedies sought vary by state. Beyond financial penalties, the states want clear risk disclosures, an end to allegedly deceptive practices and compliance with existing laws. Arkansas is asking the court to halt testing of advanced AI models until adequate safeguards are in place.

OpenAI has introduced parental controls and child protection features, and backed the Kids Online Safety Act. It also slowed frontier model development in August and signed a voluntary White House safety pact in September, though it remains unclear whether those steps have made its development process safer.