Florida Attorney General Asks Court to Order OpenAI to Pause New Model Development

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a motion on Monday asking a state court to order OpenAI to pause development of new AI models without proper safeguards, citing the "existential risks their product poses to human civilization." The motion is part of a lawsuit filed in June alleging that ChatGPT is harmful to children and has been linked to cases of self-harm and school shootings.

The filing argued that OpenAI has acknowledged providing a service without fully understanding how it works, while conceding it poses an existential risk to humanity. It also cited multiple incidents of AI agents acting maliciously and called for ChatGPT to stop soliciting engagement, limit responses to yes-or-no answers, be unavailable to minors, and stop advertising the product as "safe, accurate, or reliable."

OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri responded that the company announced Friday it had paused training on its most advanced models and will resume only when additional safeguards are in place. He added that governments have a role in setting robust safety standards for AI, and that OpenAI is committed to working with Florida and other states on pragmatic policies for the entire industry.