*Florida’s lawsuit against OpenAI could become an early test of whether courts treat artificial intelligence chatbots like dangerous products.
Attorney General James Uthmeier sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging that ChatGPT poses risks to mental health and public safety. The complaint claims the company failed to act on safety warnings before making the chatbot available to millions of users, Politico reports.
“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 in a statement.
The lawsuit treats ChatGPT as a potentially harmful product, an approach similar to legal strategies previously used against tobacco companies and, more recently, social media platforms. Legal experts say the approach could create new pressure on AI companies as lawmakers continue to debate national safety standards.
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“This litigation is a reflection of the frustrations of that there’s not a uniform, cohesive standard at the federal level,” said Michelle Lopes Maldonado, associate director of AI policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
The case comes as social media companies face similar claims over addiction, mental health harms, and user safety. A handful of lawsuits have already accused AI chatbot companies of contributing to self-harm and other injuries. Uthmeier is the first attorney general to bring such a case.
Plaintiffs still face hurdles. Courts often rely on scientific evidence to evaluate whether a company could foresee and prevent harm. Researchers have studied social media’s mental health effects for years, but AI chatbot research remains limited.
“In the [AI] case, we have almost nothing, and the models keep changing,” University of Florida media law professor Jane Bambauer said.
Still, some attorneys argue that chatbot interactions may create a clearer connection between product design and harm because users engage directly with the system. The case could help define how courts assign responsibility as AI tools become more common.
“What we have to figure out is a federal standard sufficient enough to protect against the harms that should be reasonably foreseeable,” Maldonado said. “Technology moves at the speed of light, so we’ll never keep pace, but what we can do is respond appropriately and iterate the guardrails as the technology evolves.”
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