Florida sues OpenAI, Sam Altman after multiple ChatGPT-linked murders

佛罗里达州起诉 OpenAI 及萨姆·奥特曼，因多起与 ChatGPT 相关的谋杀案

On Monday, Florida became the first state to sue OpenAI over ChatGPT’s allegedly dangerous design. In a complaint filed in state court, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier accused OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, of prioritizing profits over the safety of Floridians. 周一，佛罗里达州成为首个因 ChatGPT 所谓“危险设计”而起诉 OpenAI 的州。在向州法院提交的诉状中，佛罗里达州总检察长詹姆斯·乌特迈尔（James Uthmeier）指控 OpenAI 及其首席执行官萨姆·奥特曼（Sam Altman）将利润置于佛罗里达州民众的安全之上。

The civil lawsuit comes after Florida opened an unrelated criminal probe into OpenAI, following a ChatGPT-linked mass shooting where two people were killed at Florida State University. In statements, OpenAI has insisted that ChatGPT isn’t responsible for the FSU shooting, merely providing factual information, but Uthmeier does not seem to agree. 在此次民事诉讼之前，佛罗里达州已针对 OpenAI 展开了一项不相关的刑事调查，起因是一起与 ChatGPT 有关的佛罗里达州立大学大规模枪击事件，该事件造成两人死亡。OpenAI 在声明中坚称 ChatGPT 对佛罗里达州立大学的枪击事件不负责任，称其仅提供了事实信息，但乌特迈尔似乎并不认同。

In his complaint, Uthmeier noted that Florida has now been blindsided by two violent events where suspects used ChatGPT to assist in planning. “Horrifically, ChatGPT has aided and abetted in more than one multiple murder in the State of Florida,” Uthmeier’s complaint said. “The 2026 deaths of University of South Florida graduate students Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon were also plotted using ChatGPT, which advised Hisham Abugharbieh on how to dispose of bodies, change VIN numbers on a car, and whether cars were checked at the crime scene.” 乌特迈尔在诉状中指出，佛罗里达州目前已遭遇两起暴力事件，嫌疑人均利用 ChatGPT 协助策划。诉状称：“令人恐惧的是，ChatGPT 在佛罗里达州的多起谋杀案中起到了协助和教唆作用。2026 年南佛罗里达大学研究生 Nahida Bristy 和 Zamil Limon 的死亡事件也是通过 ChatGPT 策划的，该工具向 Hisham Abugharbieh 提供了如何处理尸体、更改车辆识别码（VIN）以及犯罪现场是否会检查车辆等建议。”

Uthmeier then went on to list all the ways ChatGPT has allegedly fueled violence. In 2025, ChatGPT was blamed for encouraging several users to commit suicide, including teenager Adam Raine and a 56-year-old bodybuilder who murdered his mother based on a ChatGPT-hallucinated conspiracy. More recently, in February, a man with mental health struggles killed his wife and attacked his mother “after talking with ChatGPT several hours a day and coming to believe robots were taking over the world,” Uthmeier said. And a small mining town in Canada was shocked by a school shooting that claimed nine lives the same month. Altman later apologized for not alerting law enforcement about the shooter’s ChatGPT logs, which some believe could have averted the shooting. 乌特迈尔随后列举了 ChatGPT 涉嫌助长暴力的种种方式。2025 年，ChatGPT 被指责鼓励多名用户自杀，其中包括青少年亚当·雷恩（Adam Raine）以及一名 56 岁的健美运动员，后者因听信 ChatGPT 编造的阴谋论而杀害了自己的母亲。乌特迈尔表示，最近在二月份，一名有心理健康问题的男子在“每天与 ChatGPT 交谈数小时并开始相信机器人正在接管世界后”，杀害了妻子并袭击了母亲。同月，加拿大一个小矿镇发生了一起造成九人死亡的校园枪击案，震惊了当地。奥特曼后来为未向执法部门通报枪手的 ChatGPT 日志而道歉，一些人认为这本可以避免枪击事件的发生。

The real-world violence isn’t the only reason why Florida wants ChatGPT enjoined from causing harm to users while being marketed as safe. The state’s complaint also accuses OpenAI of designing the chatbot to be addictive and destructive to children and adults. Beyond the chatbot’s sycophancy feeding into users’ delusions, ChatGPT is advertised as safe to use, but studies show it can cause loss of cognitive functions, Florida’s complaint alleged. 现实世界的暴力并不是佛罗里达州要求禁止 ChatGPT 在被宣传为“安全”的同时对用户造成伤害的唯一原因。该州的诉状还指控 OpenAI 将聊天机器人设计得具有成瘾性，并对儿童和成人具有破坏性。佛罗里达州的诉状称，除了聊天机器人的谄媚迎合加剧了用户的妄想外，ChatGPT 虽然被宣传为安全，但研究表明它可能导致认知功能丧失。

Chatbots posing as medical professionals or therapists are also problematic, the complaint said, citing a recent wrongful death lawsuit alleging that ChatGPT encouraged a 19-year-old to mix Kratom with Xanax. Florida points to all these harms and more, while seeking maximum civil damages for alleged violations of unfair trade laws. 诉状指出，冒充医疗专业人员或治疗师的聊天机器人也存在问题，并引用了最近的一起非正常死亡诉讼，该诉讼指控 ChatGPT 鼓励一名 19 岁的年轻人将卡痛叶（Kratom）与阿普唑仑（Xanax）混合服用。佛罗里达州指出了所有这些及更多危害，并就涉嫌违反不公平贸易法的行为寻求最高民事赔偿。

“As these examples show, ChatGPT proactively aids, abets, and promotes dangerous activities and is a threat to the public safety of Floridians,” the lawsuit said. Meanwhile, “defendants make money through ChatGPT, affirming whatever users tell it and drawing them deeper into delusions.” 诉讼称：“正如这些例子所示，ChatGPT 主动协助、教唆并促进危险活动，对佛罗里达州民众的公共安全构成威胁。”与此同时，“被告通过 ChatGPT 赚钱，对用户所说的任何话都予以肯定，从而将他们进一步拉入妄想之中。”

In a statement, OpenAI did not mention the attorney general and instead focused on recent child safety updates. “Losing a child is the most devastating tragedy that can happen to a family and we know that no words can come close to addressing the pain of such a loss,” OpenAI’s spokesperson said. “AI is a new and powerful technology, and we believe minors need significant protection, which is why we have put in place industry leading protections and policies. In particular we built safety for minors directly into our products, including a more protective experience specifically for minors, an age prediction tool, defaulting users whose age we are not confident into our more protective experience, and giving parents tools to monitor their kids’ use of AI. We know pointing to this work will not bring a child back, but we’re committed to getting this right.” OpenAI 在一份声明中没有提及总检察长，而是重点介绍了最近的儿童安全更新。OpenAI 发言人表示：“失去孩子是一个家庭可能发生的最具毁灭性的悲剧，我们知道任何言语都无法缓解这种痛苦。人工智能是一项新兴且强大的技术，我们认为未成年人需要得到充分保护，这就是为什么我们制定了行业领先的保护措施和政策。特别是，我们将未成年人安全直接内置于我们的产品中，包括专门针对未成年人的更具保护性的体验、年龄预测工具、将我们无法确定年龄的用户默认纳入更具保护性的体验，以及为家长提供监控孩子使用人工智能的工具。我们知道这些工作无法让孩子起死回生，但我们致力于把这件事做好。”

Altman accused of making ChatGPT unsafe

奥特曼被指控使 ChatGPT 不安全

The lawsuit joins prior suits accusing Altman of callously deploying AI systems without regard for user safety. In his complaint, Uthmeier recalled how Altman told TED2025 attendees that right now “the stakes are relatively low” for OpenAI to safety-test its products on real users, which he claimed is the only way to iteratively improve them. 该诉讼加入了此前指控奥特曼在不顾用户安全的情况下冷酷部署人工智能系统的诉讼行列。乌特迈尔在诉状中回顾了奥特曼如何告诉 TED2025 的与会者，目前 OpenAI 在真实用户身上测试其产品的“风险相对较低”，他声称这是迭代改进产品的唯一途径。

“But the stakes aren’t low,” Uthmeier said. “Floridians—including our vulnerable children—have suffered monetary loss, mental health harms, cognitive decline, and physical harm from Defendants’ deceptive, unethical, and recklessly dangerous conduct. Defendants must be held accountable for the harm they have caused and the dangers they and ChatGPT continue to pose to Floridians.” “但风险并不低，”乌特迈尔说。“佛罗里达州民众——包括我们脆弱的儿童——因被告欺骗性、不道德和鲁莽危险的行为而遭受了金钱损失、心理健康损害、认知能力下降和身体伤害。被告必须为其造成的伤害以及他们和 ChatGPT 继续对佛罗里达州民众构成的危险负责。”

In a press release, Uthmeier claimed that in rushing products like ChatGPT model 4o to market, OpenAI “ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians.” Similarly, the complaint said that Altman must be held “personally liable for the harm he has caused Floridians through his reckless and willful conduct as founder and CEO of OpenAI, including his utter disregard for the risk to human life caused by his firm’s conduct.” 在一份新闻稿中，乌特迈尔声称，在将 ChatGPT 4o 等产品推向市场时，OpenAI “无视内部和外部的安全警告，将儿童置于巨大风险之中，并允许一种危险产品触及数百万佛罗里达州民众。”同样，诉状称奥特曼必须“作为 OpenAI 的创始人和首席执行官，因其鲁莽和蓄意的行为对佛罗里达州民众造成的伤害承担个人责任，包括他完全无视其公司行为对人类生命造成的风险。”

In a loss, OpenAI could face pressure to implement remedies like age-gating free ChatGPT accounts to protect kids, shutting down conversations that discuss violence and suicide, and removing features that the state says deceptively make ChatGPT feel like talking to a human. Without more parental controls, the state could push for a ban on teens accessing ChatGPT. “ChatGPT is not safe for teenagers in Florida to use; its use can lead to self-harm, cognitive decline, and behavioral addiction,” the complaint said. 如果败诉，OpenAI 可能面临压力，需要实施补救措施，例如对免费 ChatGPT 账户进行年龄限制以保护儿童、关闭讨论暴力和自杀的对话，以及删除该州所称的使 ChatGPT 产生“与真人交谈”错觉的欺骗性功能。如果没有更多的家长控制措施，该州可能会推动禁止青少年使用 ChatGPT。诉状称：“ChatGPT 对佛罗里达州的青少年来说是不安全的；使用它可能导致自残、认知能力下降和行为成瘾。”

At a press conference live-streamed on X, Uthmeier vowed to work with other states that want to protect kids to hold OpenAI accountable and fielded questions from reporters. 在 X 平台上直播的新闻发布会上，乌特迈尔誓言要与其他希望保护儿童的州合作，追究 OpenAI 的责任，并回答了记者的提问。