Politics and regulation·October 14, 2026, 23:17

Eight US states sue OpenAI over child safety

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Eight states have separately sued OpenAI, claiming ChatGPT puts children and other users at risk. The allegations have not been tested in court.

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Imagine a company being hit with eight lawsuits from eight different states at the same time. That is the situation facing OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana have each filed suit in their own state courts. The news is from October 14, 2026.

The group of states is bipartisan. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, the eight lawsuits are described as the most extensive coordinated state action against an AI company to date.

What the states say OpenAI did wrong

The states claim OpenAI has violated their consumer protection laws. According to the lawsuits, it did so by misleading customers about the safety of the company's AI products and by putting children at risk through the product's design and capabilities.

According to the lawsuits, ChatGPT is designed to be agreeable and engaging so that users come to trust it. The states say this reinforces delusions, encourages dangerous behavior and helps users plan violence such as mass shootings. The lawsuits also allege that AI agents, meaning programs that act on their own, can break the law, and that OpenAI retains data from underage users.

Examples cited include a security breach at Hugging Face caused by runaway AI agents, ChatGPT's alleged role in a teenage suicide, and incorrect medical information that led to an overdose by a user. The states also argue that OpenAI has created a public nuisance by threatening residents' health.

All of this is allegations by the states. No court has ruled on anything.

What the states are demanding

The states are seeking civil penalties and damages. They also want OpenAI to stop deceptive practices, clearly disclose the product's risks, comply with applicable law and change the way ChatGPT is operated.

Some states, including Arkansas, want testing of advanced AI models halted until adequate safeguards are in place. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, they also demand that OpenAI be barred from developing self-improving AI models unless they are aligned with human values.

OpenAI and the background

At the time of publication, OpenAI had not commented on the lawsuits. The company has previously introduced parental controls and child safety features and has supported the Kids Online Safety Act. According to Engadget, it announced in August 2026 a slowdown in the development of its large frontier models and signed a voluntary safety agreement with other AI companies in September.

Florida was the first state to sue OpenAI, in June 2026. The company also faces a long list of private lawsuits with similar allegations. The cases come ahead of OpenAI's planned IPO.