Florida became the first state this week to sue OpenAI.
The civil complaint against OpenAI and Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman accuses the company of deceptive practices and harms to Floridians. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges Altman prioritized commercial gain and ignored warnings that OpenAI’s products could encourage self-harm and violence.
Attorney General James Uthmeier highlighted the case of Joshua Enneking, who died by suicide in 2025.
“ChatGPT never stopped engaging with Joshua, even though he often discussed suicide. ChatGPT even affirmed Joshua’s lack of self-worth,” Uthmeier said. “OpenAI never alerted authorities of Joshua’s imminent and specific plans to take his own life.”
Uthmeier said Enneking’s story is one of the reasons his office filed the lawsuit
The complaint accuses ChatGPT of collecting data from minors without parental oversight and causes “behavioral addiction and cognitive harm.”
“OpenAI and Altman ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians,” Uthmeier said.
It’s not the first time Florida has pushed back against AI platforms. Last month, the Office of Statewide Prosecution launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT after prosecutors reviewed chat logs between ChatGPT and a gunman who killed two people and injured several others when he fired shots on the campus of Florida State University last year.
OpenAI was subpoenaed for information on the company’s policies and internal training materials regarding user threats of harm to self or others.
“Today’s AI companies have largely assisted with the evolution of the digital playground. Protecting our children means teaching them to navigate not just the real people behind the screens, but the artificial minds engineered to mimic them,” said FDLE Special Agent in Charge Mike Duffey. “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.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has been another outspoken voice on artificial intelligence. His proposed AI Bill of Rights would have required parental controls and privacy protections for users, among other things.However, the proposal failed to pass the Legislature.
