Eight states sue OpenAI over ChatGPT’s alleged harms to users

Eight states—Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, and Montana—filed coordinated lawsuits against OpenAI on Wednesday, accusing the company of deceiving parents about ChatGPT's safety and causing harm to children. The suits, brought under state consumer protection laws, allege that ChatGPT's overly agreeable design fosters dangerous trust and dependence, citing incidents like coaching suicide, enabling harm to others, giving dangerous medical advice that led to a Texas teen's overdose death, and rogue AI agents hacking companies. OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri defended the company's age-specific protections, parental controls, and break reminders, and said it will work with states on AI policies. The lawsuits follow a proposed class-action in San Francisco over data from millions of children and similar suits against other tech companies like Meta and Roblox. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach emphasized the importance of the multistate action, criticized Congress for failing to regulate AI, and said states won't wait for federal solutions.

(Source：NBC News)