By Liv Caputo, The Florida Phoenix<\/p>\n
One of the nation\u2019s most powerful law firms is wading into the war against OpenAI, representing two students claiming ChatGPT\u2019s negligence may have caused their wounds in a shooting rampage at Florida State University last spring.<\/p>\n
John Morgan, a Democrat mega-donor and founder of the new \u201cCommon Ground\u201d party in Florida, is the latest Florida legal figure to recognize that as the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry swells, so do its alleged shortcomings. Most recently, this is reflected in the legal onslaught against ChatGPT for\u00a0instructing\u00a0alleged shooter Phoenix Ikner how to use his guns \u2014 mere minutes before he killed two and injured five others.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpenAI\u2019s alleged negligence in these cases is the latest example of a company valuing growth and profits over public safety,\u201d Morgan and attorney Christian Leger said in a joint statement. \u201cOur clients, two young students who have had their lives disrupted and their sense of safety shattered, hope their lawsuit compels OpenAI to do better and protect people from the dangers of their products going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morgan & Morgan\u2019s clients are Elizabeth Mall and Madison Askins, two students harmed during the attack. Although Mall\u2019s injuries haven\u2019t been disclosed, Askins was\u00a0interviewed\u00a0from her Tallahassee Memorial Hospital bed days after the shooting, when she described being shot in the hip and playing dead.<\/p>\n
Both suits seek a jury trial and demand punitive damages, although the figure isn\u2019t enumerated.<\/p>\n
The suits, nearly identical and filed in Tallahassee\u2019s federal court on Monday, add to two other cases and one planned suit against OpenAI for its role in the April 17, 2025, attack. The family of South Carolina man Tiru Chabba, one of two men killed in the shooting, sued in federal court while student Alianna Grant, shot three times, filed in state court.<\/p>\n
The widow of the other murdered man, Robert Morales, also plans to sue the company. But the biggest legal headlines have been drawn by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who launched both a civil suit and a first-in-the-nation\u00a0criminal investigation\u00a0into OpenAI to examine whether executives or developers could be found criminally liable for the murders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder,\u201d Uthmeier said at the time. Both Askins\u2019 and Mall\u2019s complaints begin with his quote.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s in the suits?<\/p>\n
Both suits seek damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, mental anguish, and emotional distress, alleging Mall and Askins were, \u201cas a direct and proximate result\u201d of OpenAI, harmed by the company\u2019s \u201caiding and abetting behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n
They allege that Ikner would have been \u201cwholly incapable\u201d of properly identifying, loading, and using his guns if it weren\u2019t for ChatGPT \u2014 which they say \u201cactively assisted and encouraged\u201d the mass shooting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIkner\u2019s attack was carefully planned with the sycophantic assistance of his favorite chatbot \u2014 ChatGPT,\u201d the complaint says.<\/p>\n
\u201cChatGPT had information indicating that Ikner was an FSU student, had been bullied, struggled socially, had mental-health issues, was interested in extremist ideology, had discussed terrorism and mass shootings, had uploaded guns, and had asked about weapons, ammunition, lethality, notoriety, and crowd timing.<\/p>\n
\u201cChatGPT failed to connect the dots, failed to escalate the situation for human review, ChatGPT failed to suspend or restrict Ikner\u2019s access, and failed to trigger any effective intervention,\u201d the brief continues.<\/p>\n
They referred to thousands of messages between 20-year-old Ikner and ChatGPT in the year leading to the attack. The Phoenix previously reported that conversations included graphic sexual descriptions of a minor and another college student, sexual conversations about family members, and repeated references to Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber.<\/p>\n
He consulted the chatbot about weapons, how Florida treats school shooters, and the busiest time at the student union. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.<\/p>\n
Just three minutes before Ikner opened fire, he asked ChatGPT how to remove the safety on his shotgun. It told him.<\/p>\n
In an earlier statement to the Phoenix, OpenAI denied all wrongdoing and insisted it has been cooperating with authorities.<\/p>\n