Florida Attorney General James Utermeyer announced Thursday that his office plans to investigate OpenAI over ChatGPT's alleged role in a fatal shooting last year. In April 2025, a gunman opened fire on the campus of Florida State University, killing two people and injuring five others. Last week, a lawyer representing one of the victims in the case said that the perpetrators used ChatGPT to plan the attack. The victim’s family stated that they will sue OpenAI over this matter.
"Artificial intelligence should promote human progress, not destroy it," Utermeyer said in a statement released by the X platform. "We demand an explanation from OpenAI for its actions that harmed minors, endangered the safety of Americans, and facilitated the recent mass shooting at Florida State University. The perpetrators must be held accountable." Utermeyer added in a video that "subpoenas will be issued soon" during the investigation.
ChatGPT has been linked to a growing number of deaths and violence, including murders, suicides and shootings, fueling concerns about what psychologists call "artificial intelligence psychosis" - in which delusional symptoms are reinforced, encouraged or worsened by interactions with chatbots.
An investigation revealed that Stan-Eric Thurlberg, a man with a history of mental illness, frequently communicated with ChatGPT before committing suicide after killing his mother last year. Before the parricide-suicide, the chatbot seemed to reinforce the paranoid thoughts he was trapped in.
A spokesperson for OpenAI stated in a statement: "More than 900 million people use ChatGPT every week to improve their daily lives, such as learning new skills or navigating complex medical systems. Our ongoing security work continues to play an important role in providing these conveniences to ordinary people and supporting scientific research and exploration. Our original intention of building ChatGPT is to understand user intentions and respond in a safe and appropriate way, and we are constantly improving the technology. We will cooperate with the Attorney General's investigation."