Arkansas attorney general sues OpenAI over ChatGPT safety claims
by KATV Digital Team
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 29: An Open AI ChatGPT hat is on display at an OpenAI developers conference at Fort Mason on September 29, 2026 in San Francisco, California. Open AI CEO Sam Altman announced new artificial intelligence personal assistant agents named "dots" to rival Meta's Muse. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on Wednesday, alleging the company misled consumers about the safety of its artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT.
The lawsuit claims OpenAI represented ChatGPT as safe for users while concealing significant risks and limitations of the platform.
“Our complaint outlines numerous violations of Arkansas law, but they all boil down to a simple fact: OpenAI represented to Arkansans that ChatGPT was safe, but they knew ChatGPT had significant risks and limitations,” Griffin said in a statement. “They chose to hide that knowledge from consumers.”
According to Griffin, the complaint describes instances in which consumers, including minors, used ChatGPT to obtain instructions for self-harm, including suicide. It also alleges users were able to bypass the platform’s safety measures and generate responses that the company said its safeguards were designed to prevent.
“OpenAI assures us that ChatGPT is safe. The consequences of that assurance are lives lost and people harmed,” Griffin said.
The lawsuit alleges violations of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, including false representations to consumers, deceptive practices and the omission of material information.
It also alleges violations of the Children’s and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, including the collection and retention of minors’ personal information without proper notice or consent.
The complaint additionally includes claims of negligence, defective design, failure to warn consumers, unjust enrichment and public nuisance.
Griffin is seeking a court declaration that OpenAI violated state law, an injunction preventing further violations and restitution for affected consumers. The lawsuit also seeks civil penalties and an order requiring OpenAI to provide clear disclosures about ChatGPT’s risks.
The state is also asking the court to block further advanced artificial intelligence testing and the creation of models capable of recursive self-improvement until adequate safeguards are in place.
Attorneys general in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arizona, Idaho, Montana and Utah filed similar lawsuits against OpenAI on Wednesday, according to Griffin’s office.