The family of a man who died during a mass shooting at Florida State University in 2025 has sued OpenAI, accusing ChatGPT of facilitating the preparation of the attack. This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
Details
The lawsuit was filed in Florida federal court by the relatives of the deceased, Thiru Chavva. The defendants in the case are listed as OpenAI and Phoenix Ikner, who is accused of carrying out the shooting. The document alleges that the suspect used ChatGPT to plan the attack and received information via the chatbot regarding mass shootings, weapons, and the times of peak occupancy at the university's student center.
OpenAI rejects the allegations
The lawsuit states that ChatGPT did not warn about the dangerous nature of the conversations nor did it block them, despite signs of a potential threat. The victim's family accuses the company of creating a "defective product" and is seeking compensation and punitive damages.
OpenAI stated that the chatbot is not responsible for the crime. Company spokesperson Drew Pusateri emphasized that ChatGPT provided only factual information from open sources and did not encourage illegal actions. According to him, after the shooting, the company independently identified the account associated with the suspect and handed the data over to law enforcement.
According to the investigation, Ikner, the son of a sheriff's deputy, opened fire on the campus in Tallahassee. As a result of the attack, two people were killed and four others were injured. Police wounded the attacker during the arrest. He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder.