Florida seeks court limits on OpenAI model development and ChatGPT behavior

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a motion on September 28 seeking a temporary injunction from a state court that would restrict OpenAI’s development of new AI models and several ChatGPT behaviors. The filing asks for relief in an existing civil case; it is not an order a judge has granted.

Under the proposed injunction, OpenAI could not develop new models unless independent or third-party-approved safety guardrails were in place. ChatGPT would also be barred from soliciting engagement or serving minors. The request would stop adaptations that give the chatbot human attributes and prevent OpenAI from representing ChatGPT as safe, accurate or reliable.

Florida filed the motion in the state’s 10th Judicial Circuit Court in Highlands County as part of a civil case it brought against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman on June 1. The reviewed evidence included no court order granting the restrictions, and the timing of any hearing or ruling remains unverified.

The underlying lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT’s design, marketing, safety representations and safeguards violate the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and create a public nuisance. Those claims are allegations in the state’s case, not established court findings.

The state also alleges that OpenAI collects personal information from children under 13 without parental consent, violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, and lacks adequate controls to keep minors from using ChatGPT. To support its request, Florida cited AI-agent incidents involving Hugging Face and attempted or unauthorized access to U.S. and Australian government systems. Those characterizations likewise remain state allegations offered to justify temporary relief.

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said safe AI development starts with the work companies do themselves. He said OpenAI supports pragmatic policies that apply across the AI industry instead of rules aimed at one company. The reviewed evidence did not include an OpenAI court response to the injunction motion, if one has been filed.