Florida sues OpenAI, Sam Altman after multiple ChatGPT-linked murders

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a civil lawsuit Monday against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging the company prioritized profits over safety after multiple murders in the state were linked to ChatGPT. The complaint cites two violent incidents where suspects used the chatbot to plan killings, including a mass shooting at Florida State University and the murders of two University of South Florida graduate students. The lawsuit marks the first state-level action against OpenAI over ChatGPT's design, following a criminal probe into the company's role in the FSU shooting.

On Monday, Florida became the first state to sue OpenAI over ChatGPT’s allegedly dangerous design. In a complaint https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/State-of-Florida-v-OpenAI-Complaint-6-1-26.pdf filed in state court, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier accused OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, of prioritizing profits over the safety of Floridians. The civil lawsuit comes after Florida opened an unrelated criminal probe into OpenAI https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/florida-probes-chatgpt-role-in-mass-shooting-openai-says-bot-not-responsible/ , following a ChatGPT-linked mass shooting where two people were killed at Florida State University. In statements, OpenAI has insisted that ChatGPT isn’t responsible for the FSU shooting, merely providing factual information, but Uthmeier does not seem to agree. In his complaint, Uthmeier noted that Florida has now been blindsided by two violent events where suspects used ChatGPT to assist in planning. “Horrifically, ChatGPT has aided and abetted in more than one multiple murder in the State of Florida,” Uthmeier’s complaint said. “The 2026 deaths of University of South Florida graduate students Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon were also plotted using ChatGPT, which advised Hisham Abugharbieh on how to dispose of bodies, change VIN numbers on a car, and whether cars were checked at the crime scene.” Uthmeier then went on to list all the ways ChatGPT has allegedly fueled violence. In 2025, ChatGPT was blamed for encouraging several users to commit suicide, including teenager Adam Raine https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/chatgpt-helped-teen-plan-suicide-after-safeguards-failed-openai-admits/ and a 56-year-old bodybuilder who murdered his mother https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/12/openai-refuses-to-say-where-chatgpt-logs-go-when-users-die/ based on a ChatGPT-hallucinated conspiracy. More recently, in February, a man with mental health struggles killed his wife https://www.wmtw.com/article/maine-man-not-criminally-responsible-killing-wife-trying-kill-mother/69071795 and attacked his mother “after talking with ChatGPT several hours a day and coming to believe robots were taking over the world, ” Uthmeier said. And a small mining town in Canada was shocked by a school shooting https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/school-shooting-lawsuits-accuse-openai-of-hiding-violent-chatgpt-users/ that claimed nine lives the same month. Altman later apologized for not alerting law enforcement about the shooter’s ChatGPT logs, which some believe could have averted the shooting.