LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced Wednesday a lawsuit against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, alleging the company misrepresented the platform’s safety and failed to disclose its risks. The state claims the artificial intelligence system has harmed consumers, including minors, and violated privacy and consumer protection laws.
Griffin said in a statement that OpenAI assured the public ChatGPT was safe despite being aware of significant limitations. “The consequences of that assurance are lives lost and people harmed,” Griffin asserted.
The lawsuit outlines several complaints, including allegations that the system provided self-harm instructions to users, such as advice on suicide. It also describes how some users bypassed safety measures in ChatGPT, generating potentially harmful responses. Griffin noted that these examples cast doubt on the company’s claims regarding its safety protections. "Whether you call it artificial intelligence or super intelligence, the bottom line is that things are rapidly changing," Griffin stated. "But one thing that has not changed and will not change is Arkansans’ right to receive truthful information about the products and services they use."
The state’s legal filing includes claims of:
- **Deceptive practices under the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act**, which include allegations that OpenAI knowingly made false representations, omitted critical information, and engaged in deceptive practices. - **Privacy violations under the Children’s and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act**, with accusations that the company collected minors’ personal data without proper notice or consent and retained it longer than necessary. - **Common-law claims**, such as negligence, strict liability for design defects, failure to warn, unjust enrichment, and public nuisance.
Arkansas is seeking numerous remedies from the court, including restitution for impacted consumers, civil penalties, and an order requiring OpenAI to disclose the risks associated with ChatGPT. The lawsuit also requests an injunction prohibiting OpenAI from gathering data from minors and from conducting further advanced AI testing without ensuring adequate safeguards, such as preventing the development of recursive self-improvement capabilities.
The complaint comes as part of a wave of similar lawsuits filed Wednesday by attorneys general in eight other states, including Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, and Utah. These cases highlight growing scrutiny over artificial intelligence systems and their potential impact on safety, privacy, and consumer trust.
A copy of the Arkansas attorney general’s complaint is available to the public. The matter will now proceed through the state’s courts.