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<\/a><\/p>\nTwo adults died, and six other people, including at least one student, were injured in April 2025 at the shooting near the student union at Florida State, a public university with an enrollment of more than 43,000 in Tallahassee. The suspect, Phoenix Ikner, who was then a 20-year-old student at the university, faces multiple charges of murder and attempted murder and is in jail awaiting trial.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors have gathered as evidence messages that the suspect exchanged with ChatGPT. On the day of the shooting, he asked the chatbot how the country would react to a shooting at Florida State and when the busiest time was at the student union, according to messages obtained by The New York Times through a public records request.<\/p>\n
Uthmeier first announced April 9 that his office would be opening an investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT. On Tuesday, he said a civil investigation that his office initiated this month into the company\u2019s potential liability would continue, along with the criminal investigation.<\/p>\n
OpenAI said in a statement this month that it would cooperate with the attorney general\u2019s office. \u201cWe build ChatGPT to understand people\u2019s intent and respond in a safe and appropriate way, and we continue improving our technology,\u201d the company said at the time. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.<\/p>\n
(The Times has sued OpenAI, claiming copyright infringement; OpenAI has denied the claims.)<\/p>\n
Uthmeier acknowledged Tuesday that OpenAI is a company, not a person, and said that exploring potential criminal culpability against the company would be novel legal territory.<\/p>\n
But he also said that he had a duty to find out whether \u201chuman beings may have been involved in the design, management and operation\u201d of the chatbot to the point that it would \u201cwarrant criminal liability.\u201d His office plans to subpoena OpenAI for records, including policies and internal training documents regarding the possibility of users threatening harm to themselves or others, he said.<\/p>\n
Uthmeier was named attorney general by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year and is running for a full term this year.<\/p>\n
DeSantis, a fellow Republican, has championed legislation reining in the power of artificial intelligence, a position that has put him at odds with the White House\u2019s more pro-AI approach. The governor has called on state lawmakers to set guardrails for the use of AI in a special session next week.<\/p>\n
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