More than half a dozen states sued
In a first-of-its-kind bipartisan effort, attorneys general from Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Iowa, Kansas, West Virginia, and Nebraska all brought individual lawsuits against OpenAI claiming the platform is harming minors, the elderly, and other users.
OpenAI has marketed its ChatGPT chatbot as safe for kids under 13, yet it “is absolutely not appropriate for kids of that age,” Nebraska’s attorney general Mike Hilgers said during a press conference in Des Moines Wednesday.
State regulators pointed to the tech giant’s rogue artificial intelligence agents, which have attacked other systems, and instances during which ChatGPT “coached” kids to commit suicide or harm other people as examples of OpenAI’s “flagrant disregard” for minors’ safety.
The company told users “all across the country that ChatGPT is safe; it is not,” Iowa’s attorney general Brenna Bird said.
Wednesday’s complaints follow a flurry of legal actions states have taken in the last few years to protect kids online and demand platforms adopt stronger safety controls. A coalition made up 47 states plus the District of Columbia reached a record-breaking $18 billion settlement this summer with
OpenAI’s spokeperson Drew Pusateri, said the firm has already built “industry-leading age-specific protections” into its product and will continue to build additional safeguards, such as the parental controls, break reminders and other protections.
“We’re committed to working with states on advancing pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry - not just one company,” Pusateri said.
OpenAI also said it will also share more information about the steps it’s taken in response to the security incidents involving its models.
“We’ve strengthened safeguards across our research systems, continued a broader review of model activity, provided notifications to affected organizations, and published our findings,” Pusateri said.
In the press conference, state regulators said more state lawsuits may follow.
Bird said the attorneys general want OpenAI to disgorge any money made from its product while minors were harmed and asked the AI giant to stop making inaccurate and deceptive statements about its safety practices. They didn’t cite a financial number for damages.
Given the chatbot’s current capabilities, “the types of changes that they would need to make are incredibly significant” for it to be deemed safe enough for children users, Bird said.
OpenAI was hit with a separate proposed class action Tuesday alleging OpenAI’s ChatGPT took sensitive data from millions of child users who signed up for the AI service without getting parental consent.
(Updates starting in sixth paragraph with background, comments from OpenAI.)
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