The Verge reported on October 14 that eight US states are suing OpenAI over ChatGPT. Reuters reported it first. Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia each filed a separate suit. They allege OpenAI broke consumer protection laws by not warning users of risks. They say it presented ChatGPT as safe for young people when it was dangerous to vulnerable users. The complaints cite family lawsuits alleging the chatbot played a role in deaths. The states also allege OpenAI collected data from minors and did too little to keep underage users out.
The states ask for civil penalties and an order to stop misleading the public. Some also want unlawfully collected personal data deleted. The Verge gives no penalty amounts. It does not say which hacking incidents the suits cite. OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri told The Verge the company built age-specific protections, including parental controls and break reminders. He said no system is perfect. The report does not explain how those protections work.
Teams that buy chatbot tools may want to ask vendors what warnings users see, how minors are kept out, and what data is kept on them. Without those answers, a safety claim is hard to check from outside.