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Florida Attorney General James Usmeyer announced legal action against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging that the company misleads Floridians about the safety of ChatGPT while actively marketing the artificial intelligence product to the public, including children.
Usmayer said the lawsuit is the first state-sponsored lawsuit of its kind against OpenAI and Altman.
“OpenAI and Altman ignored internal and external safety warnings, exposed children to great risk, and allowed dangerous products to reach millions of Floridians,” Usmeyer said.
The civil complaint alleges that OpenAI prioritized speed to market and commercial interests over user safety. The complaint alleges that the company ignored repeated warnings from internal and external experts before releasing and promoting ChatGPT.
The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI concealed significant risks, suppressed internal safety concerns, and falsely assured users that ChatGPT was secure. State officials claim the product may promote or encourage harm, including self-harm and violence.
The complaint also raises concerns about the use of ChatGPT by children, alleging that the platform collects data from minors without significant parental supervision and can lead to behavioral addiction and cognitive harm. The state also alleges that OpenAI downplayed the risk of dangerous errors posed by chatbots.
FDLE Special Agent in Charge Mike Duffy said parents need to understand that artificial intelligence poses new safety concerns for children online.
“Protecting children means teaching them how to manipulate not only the real humans behind the screen, but also the artificial minds designed to imitate them,” Duffy said. “Parent vigilance must shift from simply monitoring who their children are talking to to ensuring their children understand what is being said, because machines programmed to please can never replace the safety of human boundaries.”
Florida officials said the lawsuit was brought under a state law that prohibits unfair and deceptive trade practices. The state is seeking damages on behalf of Floridians and an end to the practices described in the complaint.
The legal action follows a separate criminal investigation launched last month by the statewide prosecutor’s office. Prosecutors began the investigation after reviewing chat logs between ChatGPT and Phoenix Ichner, the gunman who opened fire at Florida State University on April 17, 2025, killing two people and injuring several others.
That criminal investigation is still ongoing.
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Usmayer also announced that the State Attorney’s Office’s Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit (CFEU) has recovered and returned $229,096 in virtual currency confiscated to victims of cyber fraud over the past week.
Sarasota County Lawsuit – $139,400 in damages
The investigation began in October 2025, when the victim, a 69-year-old man, reported to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office that he was the victim of a cryptocurrency scam. Over the phone, the scammer convinced the victim that he was an investment advisor knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies.
Scammers convinced victims to transfer more than $970,000 to a fake investment app that falsely displayed profits of more than $3.2 million. When the victim tried to withdraw the funds, he was told he needed to invest an additional $325,000, so he contacted law enforcement.
CFEU recovered and returned $139,400 to the victims.
St. Johns County Litigation – $17,376
The investigation began in July 2025, when the victim, a 77-year-old woman, reported to the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office that she was the victim of a cryptocurrency scam. Scammers impersonating PayPal convinced victims that their bank accounts had been compromised and they needed to transfer all their funds to Bitcoin.
The scammer convinced the victim to make 17 transactions totaling $165,000 and transfer the funds to a “Bitcoin machine” over a four-month period. Once the scammer ended the communication and disconnected the phone number, the victim reported the crime.
CFEU recovered and returned $17,376 to the victims.
St. Johns County Lawsuit – $45,156 in damages
The investigation began in December 2024 when a victim reported to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office that he was the victim of a cryptocurrency scam. The victim reported meeting the scammer on the dating app Coffee Meets Bagel, and the conversation quickly moved to WhatsApp. The scammer pretended to work for Goldman Sachs and tricked victims into believing he could advise them on how to successfully invest in cryptocurrencies.
After initially convincing the victim to invest $1,000 through a fraudulent cryptocurrency platform, the scammer manipulated her into taking out a loan or borrowing money from her family to invest additional funds. The fake investment platform misrepresented large profits and led victims to believe that their account balances had increased significantly. When the victim tried to withdraw the funds, the scammer claimed that approximately $59,000 in taxes had to be paid before the funds could be released. After speaking with family members and conducting additional investigation, the victim realized he had been duped.
The victims ultimately lost more than $108,000. CFEU recovered and returned $45,156 to the victims.
Marion County Lawsuit – $27,162
The investigation began in November 2024 when the victim, a 77-year-old man, reported the fraud to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The victim met the female scammer on Facebook and the conversation quickly moved to WhatsApp.
Over the course of nearly a year, the scammers manipulated victims into investing more than $160,000 in fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms. When the victim tried to withdraw funds, he was told he would have to pay an additional fee, at which point he reported the crime.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office recovered some of the funds through blockchain tracking. CFEU was able to channel the funds through the legal process and return $27,162 to the victims.
