The widow of a man killed in last year’s is suing ChatGPT maker OpenAI, blaming the company’s artificial intelligence chatbot for on how to carry out the rampage.
The lawsuit comes after state authorities disclosed that gave information to the shooter about what time and location would maximize victims on campus, as well as the type of gun and ammunition to use. Authorities say he was also told that an attack can get more media attention if children are involved.
鈥淥penAI knew this would happen. It鈥檚 happened before and it was only a matter of time before it happened again,鈥� Vandana Joshi, whose husband Tiru Chabba was one of , said in a statement Monday. Six people were also wounded.
The lawsuit, filed Sunday in federal court, says OpenAI should have built ChatGPT with guardrails to let someone know that police may need to investigate 鈥渢o prevent a specific plan for imminent harm to the public.鈥�
has denied any wrongdoing in what it called a 鈥渢errible crime.鈥�
鈥淚n this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity,鈥� Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for the company, said in an email to The Associated Press.
Separately, in April, Florida鈥檚 attorney general said there was a into ChatGPT over whether the AI tool offered advice to Phoenix Ikner that enabled the April 2025 shooting in Tallahassee. The 21-year-old has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and several counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.
Investigators said Ikner, a Florida State student, was on campus for an hour before he walked in and out of campus buildings and green spaces while firing a handgun. The shooting took place on a weekday just before lunchtime near the school’s Student Union, which has food and shops. The lawsuit says Ikner asked ChatGPT about the busiest times there.
Joshi’s husband, a 45-year-old father of two from Greenville, South Carolina, was a regional vice president of the food service vendor Aramark Collegiate Hospitality. The other man who was killed, Robert Morales, 57, was a campus dining coordinator at Florida State.
OpenAI 鈥減ut their profits over our safety and it killed my husband. They need to be responsible before another family has to go through this,鈥� Joshi said in a statement released by her lawyer.
OpenAI is currently valued at $852 billion.
Several lawsuits have sought damages from AI and tech companies over the influence of chatbots and social media on loved ones鈥� mental health.
In March, found both for harms to children using their services. In a jury determined that Meta knowingly and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.
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Associated Press reporter Ed White in Detroit contributed.
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