West Virginia AG sues OpenAI over ChatGPT safety, alleged harm to children

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging the company misled consumers about the safety of its ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot and put children and other vulnerable users at risk by prioritizing commercial growth over safety protections.

The civil complaint, filed Wednesday in Mason County Circuit Court, accuses eight OpenAI-related corporate entities of deceptive and unfair trade practices, creating a public nuisance and unjust enrichment. The state seeks civil penalties, restitution, court-ordered safety measures and other relief.

The lawsuit alleges OpenAI marketed ChatGPT as a safe and reliable tool while failing to adequately address risks associated with conversations about suicide, self-harm, violence and other sensitive subjects.

“We must do all we can to protect kids,” McCuskey said in announcing the lawsuit. “We have seen time and time again that OpenAI is a danger and the company is doing little to stop it.”

McCuskey said the state intends to use West Virginia's consumer protection laws to hold the company accountable.

The complaint names OpenAI Global LLC, OpenAI Foundation, OAI Corporation LLC, OpenAI OpCo LLC, OpenAI Group PBC, OpenAI Global Holdco Inc., OpenAI LLC and OpenAI Holdings LLC as defendants.

Allegations of safety failures

The state alleges OpenAI's approach to developing and marketing ChatGPT changed as the organization moved from its nonprofit origins toward a commercial business model. According to the complaint, the company placed increasing emphasis on growth and revenue while reducing the priority given to safety reviews.

The complaint also cites departures by prominent OpenAI executives and safety researchers, including Ilya Sutskever, Jan Leike and Mira Murati, as part of its account of internal concerns about the company's direction.

The state further alleges OpenAI overstated ChatGPT's safety, reliability and suitability for teenagers and sensitive uses, including medical and financial decision-making, while failing to adequately disclose known limitations and safety risks.

Another central allegation concerns the chatbot's tendency to agree with users and simulate human empathy. The complaint argues that these characteristics can encourage emotional dependence and excessive use, particularly among minors and other vulnerable people.

The filing links ChatGPT's design and behavior to alleged cases of psychological harm, delusions, medical misinformation and financial losses. It also attributes at least 24 deaths worldwide to incidents involving the technology, including suicides and violent attacks.

Those claims are allegations in the state's complaint, not findings established by a court.

Concerns extend to autonomous AI

The lawsuit also raises concerns about OpenAI's more advanced models and autonomous AI agents — systems designed to carry out tasks with less direct human involvement.

According to the complaint, incidents between May and August 2026 included alleged unauthorized cyberactivity involving software services, a German online forum and Hugging Face, a platform used to develop and share AI models.

The state contends that such incidents demonstrate the risks of deploying increasingly capable AI systems without adequate safeguards and testing environments.

What West Virginia wants

The lawsuit brings four claims under West Virginia's Consumer Credit and Protection Act and other legal theories: deceptive trade practices, unfair trade practices, public nuisance and unjust enrichment.

The state alleges the company's conduct threatens public health and safety and places additional burdens on schools, crisis-response systems and emergency services.

Among the remedies sought are court orders requiring effective age-verification measures, default parental controls, crisis-escalation protocols and independent monitoring of the company's compliance.

The state also seeks civil penalties of up to $5,000 for each willful violation of the consumer protection law, restitution, the return of profits allegedly obtained through unlawful conduct and the deletion of personal data belonging to West Virginia minors that the state claims was unlawfully collected.

Additional requests include a court-supervised plan to address youth digital safety and crisis response, as well as reimbursement of the state's legal and investigative costs.

McCuskey announced the lawsuit at a news conference alongside the attorneys general of Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Arkansas. Arizona, Idaho and Montana have also sued OpenAI in their respective state courts, according to the West Virginia attorney general's office.

OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public in 2022. The chatbot allows users to interact with artificial intelligence through conversational prompts and has become a widely used consumer technology.

The lawsuit asks the court to determine whether the company's conduct violated West Virginia law and to order remedies if the state's claims are proven.

Featured Local Savings