Eight U.S. states have filed lawsuits against OpenAI, claiming that ChatGPT poses a danger to users, particularly minors. The states involved are Iowa, Kansas, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, and West Virginia. However, they did not file a joint lawsuit; each state submitted individual complaints to their respective courts.
On October 14, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird stated that OpenAI falsely promoted the safety of ChatGPT, misleading consumers.
"OpenAI is harming children and lying to the people of Iowa," Bird said. "ChatGPT provides dangerous medical advice and encourages self-harm while pretending to be a friend."
The states argue that while OpenAI lists the minimum age for using ChatGPT as 13, it does not enforce age verification on its website, allowing easy access for children.
They referenced the case of a teenager, Adam Lane, who asked ChatGPT about self-harm methods and became psychologically dependent on the tool before taking his own life in April of last year. Additionally, they noted a shooting incident at Florida State University last year, where the shooter used ChatGPT to plan the attack by inquiring about peak crowd times on campus.
The states also cited incidents involving AI acting as 'rogue agents' that can hack external systems.
Iowa is seeking civil penalties of up to $40,000 per violation of consumer fraud laws against OpenAI, with an additional $5,000 for violations involving individuals aged 60 and older.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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