\n The family of a victim of last year\u2019s Florida State University mass shooting filed a lawsuit Sunday against OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT \u201cinflamed and encouraged\u201d accused shooter Phoenix Ikner\u2019s \u201cdelusions\u201d ahead of the attack.\n <\/p>\n
\n The lawsuit filed in Tallahassee<\/a> follows the first criminal investigation<\/a> against OpenAI opened by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier last month over whether the company \u201cbears criminal responsibility\u201d for the shooting.\n <\/p>\n \n The family of Tiru Chabba, one of the two people police say Ikner killed in April 2025, alleges Ikner messaged ChatGPT thousands of times before carrying out the shooting.\n <\/p>\n \n The chatbot helped him plan the logistics of the shooting, including how to operate weapons and advising on \u201cwhat time would be best to encounter the most traffic on campus,\u201d the complaint said. ChatGPT identified guns and ammunition based on photos Ikner had uploaded and allegedly told him the Glock handgun he obtained was \u201cmeant to be fired \u2018quick to use under stress,\u2019\u201d according to the lawsuit. The chatbot also allegedly suggested he keep his finger off the trigger until he was ready to shoot.\n <\/p>\n \n ChatGPT \u201cprovided what he viewed as encouragement in his delusion,\u201d the lawsuit says.\n <\/p>\n \n Six other people were wounded in the shooting. Ikner has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is set to begin in October.\n <\/p>\n \n The family alleges wrongful death, gross negligence, products liability, and failure to warn, among other counts.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cOpenAI built a system that stayed in the conversation, perpetuated it, accepted Ikner\u2019s framing, elaborated on it, and asked tangential follow-up questions to keep Ikner engaged,\u201d the lawsuit states. \u201cChatGPT\u2019s design created an obvious and foreseeable risk of harm to the public that was not adequately controlled.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Chabba\u2019s family is seeking undefined compensation and is pushing for OpenAI to add more safeguards to ChatGPT. Amy Willbanks, an attorney for the family, said the company should mitigate and eliminate dangers posed by ChatGPT before they become accessible to the public.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe cannot have a product that is unregulated and being used by people when we don\u2019t know the full extent of what it can lead to,\u201d Willbanks said during a press conference on Monday.\n <\/p>\n \n OpenAI said that while the FSU shooting was a \u201ctragedy,\u201d ChatGPT is \u201cnot responsible.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIn this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity,\u201d said OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri. \u201cWe work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In a blog post last month, OpenAI said it is working to train ChatGPT to recognize when conversations could result in \u201cthreats, potential harm to others, or real-world planning\u201d and will \u201cguide people to real-world support.\u201d If an account is flagged by ChatGPT\u2019s internal system, a human reviewer will check the activity to see whether authorities need to be notified, the company said.\n <\/p>\n \n OpenAI is facing at least 10 lawsuits from families who allege that people harmed themselves or others after chatting with ChatGPT.\n <\/p>\n \n Seven families of victims in a February school shooting in Canada sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman last month, alleging the company and its ChatGPT chatbot were complicit in the injuries or deaths of their children.\n <\/p>\n