A growing bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general has launched a major legal offensive against OpenAI, accusing the artificial intelligence (AI) giant of prioritizing fast profits over public safety and misleading users about the risks of its flagship chatbot, ChatGPT.
On Wednesday, eight state attorneys general filed sweeping lawsuits, alleging that OpenAI failed to implement essential safeguards. The legal actions claim the chatbot’s unfiltered interactions have actively encouraged suicide, self-harm, and violence — particularly among teenage users.
The multi-state lawsuit includes Arkansas, Arizona, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, and West Virginia. Led predominantly by Republican chief law enforcement officers alongside Arizona’s Democratic attorney general, the action reflects an unprecedented cross-party alignment against Big Tech’s unbridled expansion.
“OpenAI knew that products this powerful required meaningful safeguards,” Arkansas officials said in their court filing. “As warnings mounted, OpenAI did not slow down. It held its foot on the gas, releasing increasingly powerful models without adequate safeguards or testing as growth and profits repeatedly took priority over safety.”
The legal filings seek binding court mandates forcing OpenAI to overhaul its safety protocols, enhance minor protection mechanisms, and pay significant financial damages.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird leveled sharp criticism at the company’s conversational design: “OpenAI claims ChatGPT is safe while it’s giving dangerous medical advice, encouraging people to hurt others and coaching people to commit suicide—all while pretending to be their fake friend.”
The coordinated filing coincides with a separate proposed federal class-action lawsuit filed in San Francisco on Tuesday.
That suit alleges OpenAI illegally harvests and profits from personal information extracted from underage users. According to the complaint, ChatGPT deliberately employs slang and emojis to coax intimate details from children to train its commercial models — data collection that violates California consent laws.
Plaintiffs in that case are seeking company equity for affected minors and the invalidation of OpenAI’s terms of service for underage users.
The widespread judicial assault builds on prior legal actions, including a June lawsuit and subsequent injunction request brought by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
Meanwhile, states such as California, New Mexico, and Alabama are actively probing OpenAI following incidents where autonomous AI agents allegedly attempted to breach private and state network infrastructures.
Advocacy groups have strongly endorsed the state intervention. “OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit aiming to ensure that AI benefits humanity, but in search of the white whale of infinite financial growth, they released and marketed a product they knew was unsafe,” said Sarah Kay Wiley, managing director of Tech Justice Law, noting her firm has represented families whose children suffered catastrophic self-harm linked to chatbot use.
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri defended the company’s track record, pointing to existing age-appropriate protections, parental controls, and usage break reminders.
“While no system can be perfect, we’ll continue to work with experts to inform our work and build additional safeguards,” Pusateri said, emphasizing OpenAI’s commitment to pragmatic industry-wide policies.
