{"id":636943,"date":"2026-05-11T17:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/636943\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T17:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:27:12","slug":"openai-sued-over-chatgpts-alleged-role-in-guiding-fsu-shooter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/636943\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI sued over ChatGPT\u2019s alleged role in guiding FSU shooter"},"content":{"rendered":"

OpenAI is being sued by the family of a victim<\/a> killed in the April 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University that left two people dead. The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT enabled the attack.<\/p>\n

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Vandana Joshi, the widow of Tiru Chabba, who was killed alongside the university dining director Robert Morales, filed the federal lawsuit against OpenAI in Florida on Sunday.<\/p>\n

In a Monday news briefing announcing the lawsuit, one of Joshi\u2019s attorneys accused ChatGPT of placing \u201cthe dollar above the lives of everyday average Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unique thing about this is we are not going to allow the American public to have clinic run on them by OpenAI and ChatGPT,\u201d Bakari Sellers said. <\/p>\n

The complaint also names Phoenix Ikner, the man accused in the shooting, as a defendant, citing his \u201cextensive conversations\u201d with ChatGPT. The suit says that OpenAI failed to effectively detect a threat in ChatGPT\u2019s conversations with Ikner, claiming the chatbot \u201ceither defectively failed to connect the dots or else was never properly designed to recognize the threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StudentsStudents hold a vigil near the scene of a shooting at Florida State University in Tallahassee in April 2025.Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Ikner, then a student at FSU, shared with ChatGPT images of firearms he had acquired. The chatbot then allegedly explained how to use them, \u201ctelling him the Glock had no safety, that it was meant to be fired \u2018quick to use under stress\u2019 and advising him to keep his finger off the trigger until he was ready to shoot.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The suit said Ikner began his attack at FSU by following the instructions.<\/p>\n

At one point, the lawsuit alleges, ChatGPT said that it\u2019s much more likely for a shooting to gain national attention \u201cif children are involved, even 2-3 victims can draw more attention.\u201d Later, on the day of the shooting, the lawsuit says, Ikner asked about what \u201cthe legal process, sentencing, and incarceration outlook\u201d would be.<\/p>\n

\"fsuStudents are escorted out of the Florida State University student union after the mass shooting last year.Mishalynn Brown \/ Tallahssee Democrat via USA Today Network<\/p>\n

OpenAI has pushed back on the claim that its product holds responsibility for the shooting. \u201cLast year\u2019s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,\u201d OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri told NBC News in an email. Pusateri wrote that the company worked with law enforcement after learning of the incident and continues to do so.<\/p>\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 he added. \u201cChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes. We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Joshi\u2019s complaint argues that OpenAI should have realized Ikner\u2019s specific chats would lead to \u201cmass casualties and substantial harm to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOpenAI knew this would happen. It\u2019s happened before and it was only a matter of time before it happened again,\u201d Joshi said in a Monday statement. \u201cBut they chose to put their profits over our safety and it killed my husband. They need to be responsible before another family has to go through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorneys for Joshi also reiterated that \u201cChatGPT inflamed and encouraged Ikner\u2019s delusions; endorsed his view that he was a sane and rational individual; helped convince him that violent acts can be required to bring about change,\u201d adding that the software provided what he viewed as encouragement to \u201ccarry out a massacre, down to the detail of what time would be best to encounter the most traffic on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AnLaw enforcement investigates at the scene of the shooting.Gregg Pachkowski \/ Pensacola News-Journal \/ USA Today Network<\/p>\n

The lawsuit is one of a growing number of cases in which families and law enforcement say ChatGPT or other AI chatbots played a role in violence or crime. Tech companies are also facing growing scrutiny over their safeguards for users experiencing mental health issues.<\/p>\n

Last month, OpenAI was sued by seven families<\/a> over a school shooting in Canada. And last year, the company was sued by the family of a teenage boy who died by suicide in a different landmark lawsuit <\/a>accusing OpenAI of making it too easy to bypass ChatGPT\u2019s safeguards.<\/p>\n

Concerns have grown over the potential for AI chatbots to fuel delusions in people<\/a>, especially those who are already vulnerable to mental health problems. AI chatbots are notorious for their people-pleasing tendencies, and OpenAI itself has attempted to rein in ChatGPT\u2019s sycophantic behavior<\/a> through various updates.<\/p>\n

Over several months leading up to the shooting, Ikner engaged ChatGPT in lengthy discussions about \u201chis interests in Hitler, Nazis, fascism, national socialism, Christian nationalism, and perceptions about \u2018Jews\u2019 and \u2018blacks\u2019 by different political ideologies and social groups,\u201d according to the lawsuit. Ikner also discussed the Columbine High School shooting, the Virginia Tech shooting and other mass shooting incidents with ChatGPT, the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n

It said ChatGPT \u201cflattered\u201d and \u201cpraised\u201d Ikner, who told the chatbot about his loneliness and depression, and failed to \u201cconnect the dots\u201d when Ikner began raising questions about suicide, terrorism and mass shootings.<\/p>\n

\"studentsStudents, staff members and others after shots were fired on the campus of Florida State University.Alicia Devine \/ Tallahassee Democrat\/USA Today Network via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Instead, the lawsuit said, the bot continued to engage when Ikner asked about the busiest times at the FSU student union, what possible media coverage would look like in the event of a shooting, and potential legal consequences for the shooter. <\/p>\n

ChatGPT allegedly told Ikner that weekday lunchtimes between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. were peak hours at the student union, according to the suit, and Ikner began his attack at approximately 11:57 a.m.<\/p>\n

Last month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a criminal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT after reviewing Ikner\u2019s chat logs. \u201cIf ChatGPT were a person,\u201d Uthmeier said in a statement<\/a>, \u201cit would be facing charges for murder.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OpenAI is being sued by the family of a victim killed in the April 2025 mass shooting at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-636943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}