‘That crossed the line’: Kansas among states suing Open AI, alleging deception against teens

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is joining other states in a lawsuit against OpenAI, saying the company’s technology poses dangers to children.

“This is a big step. This is a national event,” Kobach said.

Five states filed the lawsuit against the tech giant, alleging that ChatGPT is deceiving children and other vulnerable populations.

“You have a device — a platform — that is trained to gain the trust of the user, and this is especially dangerous when you’re talking about young users,” Kobach said.

AGs cite cases involving young users

The attorneys general highlighted recent cases of the AI platform giving what they described as the wrong advice to young users.

“It coached its users, including a teenager, to commit suicide. That was wrong — right across the line. When ChatGPT coached kids on how to harm or kill other people — that is wrong and that crossed the line,” said Brenna Bird, attorney general for Iowa.

States say lawsuit will seek accountability

The states say holding the tech giant accountable is necessary to keep families safe.

“What we know about ChatGPT and OpenAI — I think — is the tip of the iceberg. We don’t know what is going on behind the curtains, but with our lawsuit, we will be able to pull back the curtain, dig in, and see what is going on because we will have the documents, the evidence, the information that we need to pursue this in court,” Bird said.

13 NEWS reached out to OpenAI for a response to the lawsuits but has not heard back. The attorneys general say other states have plans to file similar complaints.