Eight U.S. states sue OpenAI over user safety concerns

Odaily reports: On Wednesday, eight U.S. states filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of misleading users about the safety of ChatGPT. State attorneys general said the company failed to provide safeguards, contributing to suicide, self-harm, and violent behavior among users, including teenagers, and that its operations violated state laws and regulations. The Arkansas lawsuit alleged that OpenAI knew a product this powerful required meaningful safeguards, that its leadership publicly acknowledged the risks, and that employees repeatedly raised serious safety concerns, yet despite the warnings, OpenAI did not slow down. Instead, it accelerated the release of increasingly powerful models without adequate safety protections or testing, prioritizing growth and profit over safety.

The eight states participating in the joint lawsuit also include Arizona, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, and West Virginia; with the exception of Arizona, the attorneys general of the remaining states are all Republicans. The states are seeking a court order to force the company to change its safety operations, strengthen protections for children, and compensate the states for damages.