Eight states sue OpenAI, alleging harms to children

On October 14, eight state attorneys general filed separate lawsuits against OpenAI, alleging the company misled consumers about ChatGPT’s safety and failed to adequately protect children. The cases seek penalties and court orders that could change how OpenAI handles youth data, safety controls and advanced-model testing.

Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana each filed an action in state court. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office described the group as bipartisan and said the states did not join a single complaint. The allegations have not been adjudicated, and the opened records did not include OpenAI’s formal answers to the October complaints.

The states allege OpenAI portrayed ChatGPT as safe without disclosing risks they associate with self-harm, violence, dangerous medical guidance, compulsive use and unhealthy relationships. Iowa’s case cites the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act. Arkansas says its claims include alleged violations of deceptive-trade-practices and child-and-teen privacy laws. Those are state claims, not findings that ChatGPT caused the harms described.

The remedies sought differ by state. Iowa’s petition asks for injunctions, civil penalties, reimbursement and disgorgement, destruction of previously obtained Iowan data, age-verification and informed-consent conditions for collecting sensitive data, and third-party-verified safeguards before further advanced-model testing.

Nebraska seeks civil penalties, restitution, disgorgement, actual damages and injunctive relief. Arkansas wants the court to block collection of minors’ data, require material-risk disclosures, and halt advanced AI testing and work on recursively self-improving models until safeguards are in place.

Together, the eight cases extend state-level legal pressure beyond Florida’s earlier lawsuit. Florida’s attorney general sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman on June 1 over alleged deceptive practices and harms to Floridians, calling it the first state-led case against the company.

OpenAI says users who state that they are ages 13 to 17, or whose accounts are estimated to belong to someone under 18, are placed into ChatGPT for Teens, with protections addressing self-harm, violence, eating disorders, dangerous activities and explicit content. The company says linked parents can manage settings and receive limited high-risk notifications, while break reminders encourage teens to step away. OpenAI also says its age-prediction system uses behavioral and account signals, defaults to a safer experience when age is uncertain, and is still being refined.