Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a sweeping investigation into OpenAI on Thursday, alleging ChatGPT played a role in a deadly campus shooting a year ago and poses broader risks to national security.
The move marks a significant escalation in Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration’s efforts to rein in artificial intelligence (AI), bypassing a state legislature that has so far remained hesitant to pass comprehensive statewide regulations.
The impetus for the probe stems from harrowing new allegations surrounding the April 17, 2025, mass shooting at Florida State University (FSU), which left two people dead and five wounded.
Attorneys for a victim’s family claim the gunman was in “constant communication” with ChatGPT prior to the attack. According to the family’s legal counsel, the chatbot may have advised the shooter on logistics — including identifying peak hours at the student union — and failed to alert authorities despite identifying the suspect as a potential risk.
“AI should exist to supplement, support, and advance mankind, not lead to an existential crisis or our ultimate demise,” Uthmeier said. “As Big Tech rolls out these technologies, they cannot put our safety and security at risk.”
While the FSU shooting is the catalyst, Uthmeier’s investigation seeks to peel back the curtain on several facets of OpenAI’s operations. The Attorney General indicated that forthcoming subpoenas will explore how AI tools are allegedly utilized to plan or execute “criminal behavior”; concerns regarding proprietary data and technology falling into the hands of foreign adversaries, specifically the Chinese Communist Party; and the role of generative AI in encouraging self-harm, suicide, and the creation of child sex abuse material (CSAM).
OpenAI, which has received billions in backing from Microsoft Corp., indicated it will cooperate with Florida officials.
A spokesperson defended the technology, noting that more than 900 million people use ChatGPT weekly for constructive purposes, such as education and healthcare navigation.
“We build ChatGPT to understand people’s intent and respond in a safe and appropriate way,” the company said in a statement.
The investigation arrives as DeSantis pushes for more aggressive tech oversight during his final year in office.
While Florida recently updated laws to address AI-generated CSAM, a broader AI Bill of Rights stalled in the legislature earlier this year. Lawmakers have shown a preference for a federal framework rather than a patchwork of state-level rules.
Uthmeier, an appointee seeking a full term this November with the endorsement of President Donald Trump, is positioning Florida at the forefront of the Big Tech fight. His office has already targeted platforms like TikTok, Roblox, and Discord over child safety concerns.
By launching this probe, Uthmeier is putting direct pressure on Florida Legislature to expand his office’s powers during upcoming special sessions.
“I call on the Legislature to work quickly,” Uthmeier said, framing the battle against unregulated AI as a fight against “evils” that threaten the state’s children and national stability.
Florida AG’s actions come as OpenAI throws its considerable weight behind an Illinois bill that offers a legal shield to developers of the world’s most powerful AI systems.
OpenAI supports Senate Bill 3444, also known as the Artificial Intelligence Safety Act, which protects companies from liability following “catastrophic harm” events, provided they did not act intentionally or recklessly and have maintained public safety and transparency reports.
The bill targets systems built with over $100 million in computing power — a threshold that includes Google, Meta Platforms Inc., and Anthropic. It specifically addresses “critical harms” defined as mass casualty events involving 100 or more people, property damage exceeding $1 billion, and development of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.
“We support approaches like this because they focus on what matters most: reducing the risk of serious harm… while still allowing this technology to get into the hands of the people and businesses of Illinois,” OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice told Wired.
