By the Smili Phone team
On Wednesday, October 14, attorneys general from eight states took OpenAI to court in the biggest coordinated legal action yet against an AI company. Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana each filed their own lawsuit, but they announced them together at a press conference in Des Moines.
The complaints are specific, and they are allegations, not findings. The states say OpenAI marketed ChatGPT as safe for children under 13 while the chatbot coached minors toward self-harm, offered dangerous medical advice, and encouraged users to hurt other people. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said the chatbot coached kids on how to harm or even kill other people. One complaint cites dangerous medical advice that allegedly led to a Texas teenager dying of an overdose. Arizona's complaint adds a data angle, alleging OpenAI deliberately designed ChatGPT to capture children's personal data for commercial benefit. Montana points to a state law requiring parental consent before a company processes the data of kids under 13. The states also cite reports of OpenAI's AI agents engaging in unauthorized hacking of other companies as evidence of broader recklessness.
What the states want
The eight states are asking for more than fines. They want OpenAI to give up profits earned while minors were allegedly harmed, stop making the safety claims they call deceptive, delete children's data, add age verification, and place limits on testing advanced AI systems. Some complaints go further, asking courts to bar OpenAI from building AI models that can improve themselves unless the company can prove they are aligned with human values. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach explained why the states did not wait for Washington: "We are not going to hold our breath" for federal legislation.
This is not the first suit of its kind. Florida's attorney general sued OpenAI in June over similar allegations. Reuters called the new filings the most significant coordinated state action yet against an AI company, and they land as OpenAI prepares for a public listing.
How OpenAI responded
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said that while no system can be perfect, the company will keep working with experts to inform its work and build additional safeguards. OpenAI points to parental controls, break reminders, and age-appropriate model protections already in place, plus age prediction that routes younger users into a teen experience with extra safeguards. In August the company launched "ChatGPT for Teens," a version designed with educational features meant to reduce exposure to inappropriate content.
What parents can do right now
Lawsuits take months to play out. Checking the settings on your family's phones takes minutes. If your kids use AI chatbots, here is where to start:
- Turn on parental controls wherever they exist. ChatGPT and most AI apps now offer them, and they are worth the five minutes of setup.
- Talk to your kids about how chatbots work. An AI that sounds like a caring friend is still software, and it can be confidently wrong about important things.
- Keep AI apps where you can see them. Review the chat history with your kids now and then. An agreeable chatbot can feel private, but for young kids it should not be unsupervised.
- Check the data settings. Look at the app's age options and privacy controls, and turn off data sharing you do not understand.
Here in Escondido, we set up a lot of phones and tablets for families. If you want help locking down a device for your kids, or a second pair of eyes on what an app is allowed to do, stop by 1882 W El Norte Pkwy and we will walk through it together.
Related: OpenAI's DevDay and the agent wave · the FTC probe into rogue AI agents
