Florida AG opens criminal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT

Florida Attorney General James Ulthmeier https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/attorney-general-james-uthmeier-launches-criminal-investigation-openai-chatgpt" target="_blank">has announced that the state's Office of Statewide Prosecution has opened a criminal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT. The investigation was opened because the suspect in https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/17/fsu-tallahassee-florida-state-university-shooting" target="_blank">a mass shooting at Florida State University in 2025 https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborough-county/court-documents-show-florida-state-shooters-ai-chats-leading-up-to-the-attack/" target="_blank">reportedly used ChatGPT in the lead up to the shooting.

Per Uthmeier, "Florida law states that anyone who aids, abets, or counsels someone in the commission of a crime, and that crime is committed or attempted, may be considered a principal to the crime." That means that the responses provided by ChatGPT to the shooter could be interpreted as the AI assistant aiding and abetting his actions.

Or at least that's what Florida seems interested in arguing.

OpenAI provided the following statement when asked to comment on the Florida investigation:

Last year's mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime.

After learning of the incident, we identified a ChatGPT account believed to be associated with the suspect and proactively shared this information with law enforcement.

We continue to cooperate with authorities.

In this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity.

ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes.

We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.

As part of the investigation, Florida has subpoenaed OpenAI for information on "all policies and internal training materials" related to how the company handles things like users threatening to harm others, threatening to harm themselves and how OpenAI responds to law enforcement.

The state is also asking OpenAI to share its organizational chart and any publicly released statements on the shooting.

"Florida is leading the way in cracking down on AI's use in criminal behavior, and if ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder," Attorney General James Uthmeier said. "This criminal investigation will determine whether OpenAI bears criminal responsibility for ChatGPT's actions in the shooting at Florida State University last year."

Florida’s investigation isn’t the first time OpenAI has been connected to a mass shooting. https://www.engadget.com/ai/canadian-government-demands-safety-changes-from-openai-204924604.html" target="_blank">Canadian regulators called for OpenAI to change how it approaches threats of harm following a https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/openai-employees-raised-alarms-about-canada-shooting-suspect-months-ago-b585df62?mod=e2tw&AID=15734583&PID=8164397&SID=mo8yolgiqw035tyl0023y&subid=Sovrn+Inc&cjevent=80ad22d73db011f1830400610a1eba24&tier_1=affiliate&tier_2=moa&tier_3=Sovrn+Inc&tier_4=2470763&tier_5=https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/openai-employees-raised-alarms-about-canada-shooting-suspect-months-ago-b585df62?mod%3De2tw" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal report that claimed the company flagged the account of a Canadian shooting suspect in 2025 but failed to bring their threats to law enforcement.

The company https://www.engadget.com/ai/canadian-government-says-openai-will-take-further-steps-to-strengthen-safety-protocols-164151618.html" target="_blank">agreed to new policies around how it works with Canadian law enforcement in March.

Separately, OpenAI is still in the midst of https://www.engadget.com/ai/the-first-known-ai-wrongful-death-lawsuit-accuses-openai-of-enabling-a-teens-suicide-212058548.html" target="_blank">a wrongful death lawsuit from 2025 for the role it may have played in the suicide of a teenage user.