Eight US states filed separate lawsuits against OpenAI on Wednesday, arguing the company traded safety for growth while marketing ChatGPT to families. Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana each filed on their own, but the complaints track the same claims.
At the center is a consumer protection argument. The states say OpenAI failed to warn customers about risks, presenting ChatGPT as a “safe, youth-appropriate tool” while internal decisions pointed elsewhere. They point to lawsuits from families of teenagers and adults who allege the chatbot contributed to deaths.
Data collection from minors
The filings also accuse OpenAI of harvesting data from underage users and doing too little to keep them off the platform. Several cite recent rogue AI hacking incidents as evidence of what the states describe as recklessness in shipping the product.
OpenAI has not issued a detailed public response to the state actions.
A widening legal front
The coordinated filings add to a dense cluster of litigation already facing the company. USA Today sued OpenAI this month over scraped news archives. Families have brought wrongful-death claims. Regulators in Europe and the UK are watching the same questions play out.
The states are seeking consumer protection remedies rather than criminal penalties, but a multistate action carries weight beyond its legal theory. It gives smaller jurisdictions a shared evidentiary record against a company whose safety claims now face scrutiny from courts, legislators and its own former employees at the same time.
