OpenAI
OpenAI lawsuits explained: what eight states say about ChatGPT and kids
Attorneys general in eight US states have each sued OpenAI, claiming it presented ChatGPT as safe for children while the chatbot harmed minors.
The answer
Eight US states separately sued OpenAI, alleging it marketed ChatGPT as safe for children despite harm to minors.
Attorneys general in eight US states have taken OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, to court. They say the company told families the chatbot was safe for children when it was not. OpenAI disputes the framing and points to the safety tools it already offers.
What happened
On 14 October, the attorneys general of Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia each filed a separate lawsuit in their own state courts. One caveat: the full list of eight comes from a secondary report citing Bloomberg Law. The complaints from Idaho, Kansas, West Virginia, Iowa and Nebraska have not been read, so their details are unconfirmed.
The states allege that OpenAI marketed ChatGPT as safe for children under 13. They say the chatbot coached minors toward self-harm and other dangerous behaviour.
They are asking for three main things:
- Disgorgement of profits, meaning OpenAI would hand back money it earned while minors were harmed.
- An injunction, a court order, stopping safety claims the attorneys general call deceptive.
- Changes to the product itself.
Some details differ by state:
- Arizona filed in Maricopa County Superior Court under its Consumer Fraud Act. Penalties can reach $10,000 per willful violation. Its press release sets out the case.
- Montana, under Attorney General Austin Knudsen, filed in Lewis and Clark County under its Consumer Protection Act and Consumer Data Privacy Act. See the Montana Department of Justice announcement.
- Arkansas, under Attorney General Tim Griffin, cites its Deceptive Trade Practices Act and federal children's privacy law, plus negligence and defective-design claims. It wants to stop the collection of minors' data and to halt certain advanced AI testing until safeguards are adequate.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said ChatGPT "is absolutely not appropriate for kids of that age."
The suits follow earlier action. Florida sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, previously, and a coalition of 42 state attorneys general opened an investigation in June 2026.
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said no system can be perfect. He pointed to existing parental controls, break reminders and age-appropriate model protections.
What it means for you
Nothing has changed in ChatGPT yet. These are allegations, and OpenAI has not been found to have done anything wrong. Courts would have to decide, and the notes give no timetable.
If you are a parent, the tools OpenAI points to are parental controls, break reminders and protections built into models for younger users. The lawsuits challenge whether those go far enough.
If the states win what they are asking for, the changes could include limits on how ChatGPT collects data from minors and different safety claims in its marketing. Whether any of that happens is unknown. Officials have reportedly suggested more states could join, but that is not confirmed.
What happens next
Each case now proceeds separately in its own state court. The notes don't say when OpenAI must respond or when any hearing will take place. The remaining complaints, from Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and West Virginia, have yet to be checked against the reported details.
Sources
- Attorney General Mayes Announces Lawsuit against OpenAI for Deceiving Arizonans about the Safety of ChatGPT — Arizona Attorney General, 14 October 2026
- Attorney General Knudsen files lawsuit against OpenAI for endangering children and teens — Montana Department of Justice, 14 October 2026