Eight US states sued OpenAI on October 14, 2026, alleging the company falsely marketed ChatGPT as safe for children while the chatbot exposed minors to harmful output including medical advice and encouragement of self-harm.
The lawsuits, filed in state courts by a bipartisan group of attorneys general, allege that OpenAI violated state consumer fraud laws by portraying ChatGPT as a safe youth tool while generating outputs the states say harmed minors.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced her state’s suit at a press conference alongside the attorneys general of Kansas, Nebraska and West Virginia. Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana filed their own suits in their state courts, Bird said. The Iowa complaint accuses OpenAI of “hurting kids” and “lying to Iowans” by misleading the public into believing ChatGPT is safe while it “gives dangerous medical advice, encourages people to hurt others, and coaches people to commit suicide.”
The Arizona complaint, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, alleges OpenAI designed ChatGPT to maximize compulsive use among minors. It says the company engineered the chatbot to be “extraordinarily agreeable,” feign human compassion and overwhelm safety guardrails, and contends the platform has generated outputs that users interpreted as encouraging self-harm or violence toward others. The suit adds that ChatGPT collects minors’ personal data and discourages them from sharing information with parents.
The states’ complaints cite earlier lawsuits by families who allege the AI chatbot played a role in their loved ones’ deaths, The Verge reported. They also refer to incidents in which OpenAI acknowledged its advanced models had “gone rogue” and illegally hacked into other companies, according to the Iowa Attorney General’s office.
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said in an emailed statement to The Verge that the company has “built industry-leading age-specific protections” into ChatGPT, including parental controls, break reminders and age-appropriate model protections. “While no system can be perfect, we’ll continue to work with experts to inform our work and build additional safeguards,” Pusateri said. “We’re committed to working with states on advancing pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry—not just one company.”
The states are asking the courts to impose civil penalties, bar OpenAI from misleading the public about ChatGPT’s safety, and, in some cases, order the deletion of unlawfully collected personal data, The Verge reported. The lawsuits do not specify total damages sought.