2 days ago
With a blistering suit revenge Monday, nan authorities of Florida whitethorn win wherever Elon Musk grounded successful bringing OpenAI and Sam Altman to heel.
“Today, we announced nan first-in-the-nation state-led suit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman,” Sunshine State Attorney General James Uthmeier said this greeting with nan 83-page title revenge successful Florida’s 10th Judicial Circuit.
“Defendants each owed nan State a work to workout reasonable attraction erstwhile designing, marketing, selling, promoting, and/or distributing ChatGPT, including to return each reasonable precautions successful ensuring it was safe for use,” nan filing against OpenAI’s firm entities and Altman himself proclaims. “Defendants owed a heightened work of attraction to nan State because of nan awesome threat of addiction, cognitive decline, suicide, violence, and related harms successful Florida from their designing, marketing, selling, promoting, and/or distributing ChatGPT.”
To that, nan filing seeks injunctions, a halt to information postulation from minors, and wants caller guardrails galore, positive perchance millions successful penalties for violations of nan Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Heading towards nan autumn midterms wherever Big Tech has go a apical topic, nan action comes successful nan aftermath of ChatGPT consulted shootings that killed 2 individuals astatine Florida State University successful 2025, and nan decease of 2 University of South Florida postgraduate students this year.
“OpenAI and Altman ignored soul and outer information warnings, put children astatine awesome risk, and allowed a vulnerable merchandise to scope millions of Floridians,” Republican Uthmeier added astatine a property convention Monday. Uthmeier, who is moving for a afloat word arsenic Florida AG successful November, opened a abstracted and ongoing criminal probe into OpenAI successful April.
Today’s suit and nan criminal investigation launched this outpouring represented a uncommon break by outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis and MAGA loyalist Uthmeier pinch nan overmuch much lackadaisical attack of Donald Trump erstwhile it comes to tech regulation. OpenAI CEO Altman personally donated $1 cardinal to Trump’s 2025 inauguration. He was connected show astatine nan White House soon afterwards pinch Oracle leader (and Paramount main David Ellison’s papa) Larry Ellison for nan unveiling of nan $500 cardinal Stargate AI initiative.
Last month, pinch a bevy of CEOs successful DC, Trump abruptly cancelled nether unit from Silicon Valley an Executive Order signing and ceremonial connected a national AI information vetting program. Picking up which measurement nan governmental and AI winds are blowing, Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom inked his ain EO connected AI job displacement on May 21, nan time of Trump’s delayed EO. More than anything, and authorities speech arsenic overmuch arsenic they tin beryllium successful America today, Uthmeier’s suit puts information astatine nan fore.
“Because of Defendants’ misrepresentations astir ChatGPT and their sloppy preamble of ChatGPT to Florida and nan world, wide shooters person been aided and abetted successful deadly rampages, susceptible group person been encouraged into suicide, professionals person suffered nationalist humiliation, users person mislaid captious reasoning skills, and minors person go addicted to a instrumentality that feigns quality compassion to cod their information pinch nary parental oversight,” nan filing says. “This litany of harms is driven by Defendants’ insatiable quest to triumph nan AI arms title and amass ample fortunes, contempt knowing nan threat of ChatGPT.”
In that context, arsenic nan AI backlash intensifies, Florida’s suit sounds for illustration thing 1 could ideate being revenge successful large Blue States for illustration California, wherever AG Rob Bonta (who approved a for-profit restructuring of nan IPO eager OpenAI past year) launched a heavy look into sexfakes of children and women created by Musk’s Grok. Florida’s move to sanction Altman straight plays into nan characteristic cult galore a techlord person fostered to varying degrees pinch their service of flacks and acting coaches.
The suit coming “seeks to clasp Altman personally liable for nan harm he has caused Floridians done his reckless and willful behaviour arsenic laminitis and CEO of OpenAI, including his utter disregard for nan consequence to quality life caused by his firms’ conduct.”
Reps for OpenAI and Altman did not respond to Deadline’s petition coming connected nan Florida action. The occurrence OpenAI, Altman and Google had past period successful a assemblage rejecting co-founder Elon Musk’s $150 cardinal suit complete nan once-non-profit becoming a for-profit institution has group nan shape for OpenAI going nationalist successful what immoderate estimate arsenic a trillion dollar offering connected nan banal market. Musk has promised to entreaty nan Oakland assemblage decision.
No day for an OpenAI IPO has been set, but today’s suit from nan onshore of Miami, Key West, Orlando and Tampa Bay whitethorn person put a stink connected it, for now.
