Texas Sues OpenAI and Sam Altman, Alleging ChatGPT Was Offered Without Warning of Its Dangers

Texas is suing OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, over the safety of ChatGPT. Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the lawsuit on October 23, alleging the company deceived Texans about the chatbot's safety and reliability and failed to warn them of its dangers, USA TODAY reported on Monday.

"With the rapid advancement of AI technology, OpenAI has the responsibility to protect users and warn them of the many dangers of its platform," Paxton said in a statement announcing the suit. The 67-page lawsuit was filed in a Collin County district court.

The suit alleges violations of two Texas laws. Under the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, it alleges OpenAI failed to warn of ChatGPT's dangers, provided content unsuitable for children without adequate age verification or parental consent, made harmful information - described in the filing as including tips on eating disorders, self-harm and mass murder - readily available, did not adequately safety-test the product, and created a product that functions unreliably while falsely representing that reliability. Under the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, it alleges OpenAI does not request or verify a parent or guardian's identity or relationship to a minor and does not offer the parental tools the law requires, such as limits on sharing a minor's data. The allegations have not been decided by a court.

The state asks the court to bar new AI models from being released in Texas unless an independent, court-approved evaluator reviews and approves their safety measures, to bar OpenAI from offering ChatGPT to minors in Texas, and to impose civil penalties of up to $10,000 per statutory violation along with asset disgorgement. USA TODAY reported it reached out to OpenAI for comment on the lawsuit and had not heard back.