Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Tuesday announced a criminal investigation into OpenAI’s ChatGPT, due to concerns that the platform aided the suspect accused of carrying out a fatal school shooting in the state.
Uthmeier initially launched an inquiry into ChatGPT earlier this month, amid allegations that it helped suspect Phoenix Ikner carry out the shooting last year at Florida State University, killing two and wounding five others. At the time, the attorney general’s office declined to say whether the investigation was criminal or civil.
“Florida is leading the way in cracking down on AI’s use in criminal behavior, and if ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder,” the attorney general said in an update on the matter this week. “This criminal investigation will determine whether OpenAI bears criminal responsibility for ChatGPT’s actions in the shooting at Florida State University last year.”
Uthmeier said Tuesday that the state was launching a criminal investigation after prosecutors reviewed chat logs between ChatGPT and Ikner.
OpenAI told the Washington Examiner that ChatGPT is not responsible for the crime, arguing the platform merely “provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet.”
Before he opened fire at the Tallahassee college, the 21-year-old suspect allegedly asked the chatbot how to prepare his shotgun to be fired, how the country would react to a shooting at FSU, and when the college’s student union was at its busiest, according to attorneys for one of the victims’ families. Ikner allegedly sent over 200 messages to ChatGPT in the lead-up to the shooting.
“The communications between the shooter and ChatGPT have confirmed what we were previously advised — the shooter sought and received assistance from ChatGPT concerning how to conduct the mass shooting that occurred on FSU’s campus,” attorney Ryan Hobbs said. “ChatGPT even advised the shooter how to make the gun operational moments before he began firing.”
Sam Altman’s OpenAI initially promised to fully cooperate with the investigation announced on April 9.
However, OpenAI spokeswoman Kate Waters refuted the idea that ChatGPT should be criminally liable for how people use the platform on Tuesday.
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“In this case, ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity,” she said in a statement. “ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes. We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.
“Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,” the statement reads. “After learning of the incident, we identified a ChatGPT account believed to be associated with the suspect and proactively shared this information with law enforcement. We continue to cooperate with authorities.”