Parent sues OpenAI: Children's conversations allegedly used to train ChatGPT

A parent from Hawaii has sued OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. The case was filed on October 13, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, and is titled Jane Doe v. OpenAI Foundation. The parent is suing on behalf of their 12-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son, who are anonymous.

Everything in this article about the contents of the complaint consists of allegations made by the plaintiffs. No court has tested them.

What do the plaintiffs allege?

According to the complaint, children could create accounts without verified consent from their parents. The plaintiffs argue that OpenAI used the children's information to train its language models, the systems that allow ChatGPT to respond. They also argue that the information was used to build profiles of the children.

The complaint further alleges that ChatGPT gets children to share information about health, relationships, feelings and fears, as well as voice recordings and photos.

About the 12-year-old girl, the complaint claims that she told ChatGPT her age but kept using the service anyway. She allegedly shared problems with eating and body image and uploaded pictures for assessment. According to the complaint, ChatGPT agreed to evaluate her appearance and encouraged her to send a photo.

OpenAI's terms prohibit users under 13 and require parental consent for those under 18. The plaintiffs argue that the age gate does not work.

What are they demanding?

The plaintiffs want the case certified as a class action for all U.S. users who have accepted ChatGPT's terms as minors under 18 since November 2022. Certification has not yet been granted.

They demand that children whose data was used for training receive a share of OpenAI's equity or an equivalent cash amount. The share would be calculated based on the tokens the users contributed. A token is a small piece of text that the model works with. The plaintiffs also demand financial compensation and that OpenAI stop collecting minors' data without consent.

The attorneys come from several firms, including EdTech Law Center in Austin. Paul Yetter is lead counsel. Andy Liddell of EdTech Law Center hopes that a requirement to pay for children's data will make the product safer.

OpenAI denies the claims

According to Malwarebytes, OpenAI denies the allegations and calls them and a parallel state lawsuit "misguided." The company points to age-specific protections in the product. However, a republication of Futurism's article states that OpenAI did not respond immediately.

On October 14, 2026, eight U.S. states filed a separate, coordinated lawsuit against OpenAI. They allege that parents have been misled about ChatGPT's safety.