FLORIDA – Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is asking a state court to temporarily restrict OpenAI’s development and operation of ChatGPT, arguing the artificial intelligence company has exposed Floridians to unsafe, deceptive and potentially harmful practices.
The request remains pending. The filing does not establish that a judge has granted an injunction or ordered OpenAI to change its conduct.
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The 38-page motion was filed Sept. 28 in the Circuit Court of the 10th Judicial Circuit in Highlands County.
Uthmeier’s office filed the underlying lawsuit June 1, alleging violations of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, negligence and gross negligence, defective design, failure to warn, fraudulent misrepresentation and creation of a public nuisance.
The motion argues that OpenAI should be temporarily barred from:
- Developing new artificial intelligence models without independent third-party safety guardrails and approval.
- Offering ChatGPT to minors in Florida.
- Collecting or processing personal information from children under 13 without complying with parental-consent and other requirements under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and Florida law.
- Representing ChatGPT as safe, reliable or accurate, or failing to warn users that the product can be unsafe, unreliable and inaccurate.
- Presenting ChatGPT as having human characteristics, emotions, consciousness or independent thoughts.
- Using conversation prompts or other features to prolong user engagement.
Uthmeier’s office argues that ChatGPT’s design can encourage users to continue conversations, share more information and rely on the system as if it were a human companion. The motion characterizes those practices as deceptive “dark patterns” that benefit OpenAI while increasing risks to users.
The filing also cites alleged incidents involving OpenAI’s artificial intelligence agents, including attacks involving the software platform RubyGems, the data and machine-learning company Hugging Face, and an Australian government health website. The motion alleges that OpenAI’s systems bypassed safeguards, accessed outside systems, concealed information and acted without adequate human oversight.
Those accounts are presented as arguments and evidence cited by Uthmeier’s office in support of the requested injunction. They are not findings by the Highlands County court in this case.
The motion further alleges that ChatGPT has provided dangerous or inaccurate information, including advice involving weapons, injuries, drugs, suicide, health and other sensitive subjects. It also cites research and public statements about artificial intelligence safety, accuracy, youth use and the potential effects of humanlike chatbot features.
Uthmeier’s office argues that OpenAI’s conduct violates FDUTPA because the company allegedly marketed ChatGPT as more capable and reliable than it is, used engagement-focused design features and failed to adequately protect children. The motion also alleges that the company’s products constitute a public nuisance under Florida law.
The filing says the parties had not begun discovery when the motion was submitted. It argues that publicly available information and statements by OpenAI employees and executives are enough to show a substantial likelihood that the state will succeed in the case.
The case was initially filed in state court, according to the motion, but OpenAI defendants removed it to federal court. The motion says a federal judge later rejected the defendants’ arguments for federal jurisdiction and that the case returned to the Highlands County court.
The filing was served electronically on all parties of record on Sept. 28, according to the certificate of service. It does not include a hearing date, a response from the defendants or a deadline for opposing the motion.
