{"id":632281,"date":"2026-10-16T09:38:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T09:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/632281\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T09:38:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T09:38:34","slug":"openai-lawsuits-8-us-states-seek-pause-on-self-improving-ai-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/632281\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI lawsuits: 8 US states seek pause on self-improving AI systems"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cOpenAI claims ChatGPT is safe while it\u2019s giving dangerous medical advice, encouraging people to hurt others, and coaching people to commit suicide \u2013 all while pretending to be their fake friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EightEight US states have launched co-ordinated lawsuits against OpenAI, requiring changes to how OpenAI\u2019s products operate for younger users, alongside other measures. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuits, ChatGPT was designed to be highly agreeable and mimic human empathy, making vulnerable users particularly susceptible to influence. <\/p>\n

The filings cite research that allegedly links chatbot use to reduced critical-thinking skills, paranoia, delusions, unhealthy relationships and unsafe medical advice.<\/p>\n

The states also point to recent incidents involving advanced OpenAI systems hacking government systems, claiming they demonstrate the technology can act unpredictably and deceive users.<\/p>\n

OpenAI rejected the allegations against children, saying it had implemented extensive safeguards to protect young users.<\/p>\n

\"IowaIowa Attorney-General Brenna Bird said OpenAI had misled parents and consumers about ChatGPT’s risks.<\/p>\n

OpenAI spokesman Drew Pusateri said the company had built \u201cindustry-leading age-specific protections\u201d into ChatGPT and would continue expanding measures such as parental controls, break reminders and age-appropriate protections.<\/p>\n

The lawsuits come two months after OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Teens, a version of the chatbot designed for users aged 13 to 17. <\/p>\n

OpenAI says the service includes additional safeguards around topics such as self-harm, violence, eating disorders and sexually explicit content.<\/p>\n

However, concerns about the platform\u2019s safeguards for younger users remain. Tech safety organisation Common Sense Media has given ChatGPT for Teens a classification of \u201cUnacceptable Risk\u201d for people under 18.<\/p>\n

The allegations by the states echo concerns raised in the Herald\u2019s investigation Under the Influence<\/a>, part of which examined cases of young people forming intense relationships with AI chatbots and receiving harmful advice during periods of distress.<\/p>\n

The litigation adds to a growing wave of legal challenges facing OpenAI and other AI companies over claims that chatbot technology can worsen mental health problems or contribute to harmful behaviour. <\/p>\n

According to the Guardian, this is the first time multiple US states have mounted a co-ordinated legal offensive against a major artificial intelligence company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cOpenAI claims ChatGPT is safe while it\u2019s giving dangerous medical advice, encouraging people to hurt others, and coaching…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[23545,9092,365,363,364,4036,1061,23852,51166,29414,13845,30546,305,1743,24938,12936,111,139,69,90,620,43666,11925,310035,9939,17178,145,3040],"class_list":["post-632281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-accusing","tag-against","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-chatgpt","tag-children","tag-consumers","tag-coordinated","tag-developer","tag-eight","tag-harming","tag-have","tag-launched","tag-lawsuits","tag-misleading","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-openai","tag-pause","tag-seek","tag-selfimproving","tag-states","tag-systems","tag-technology","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}